iPhone 7 and 7 Plus could mean an early Christmas for Apple

With the just hours away from the launch of much awaited Apple flagship phone the iPhone 7, new data reveals that iPhone sales could be on the rebound. Apple has been looking to the sales of the iPhone 7 as the sales of its smartphones have slumped in recent months, due to the iPhone SE failing to grab users attention.

A new Gartner report estimates that the iOS-based iPhones are expected to see a growth in 2016 and 2017. While in 2016 the growth will be a smaller at just 1.8% due to the late arrival of iPhone 7 and the failure of the iPhone SE. The iPhone sales will see a much higher growth of 6.4% in 2017.

This could come as good news for Apple who has been witnessing a drop in the sales of its iconic iPhone for three-quarters in a row. In the quarter ending June 30, 2016 the sales of the iPhone plummeted by 21% sequentially.  

Apple said that it sold 40 million iPhones in the third quarter ended June 30, 2016 and earned a revenue of $24 billion. Unfortunately, the revenue has fallen 27% on a sequential basis and 23% from the same period a year ago. Its revenues for the third quarter fell to $42.35 billion as against $50.55 billion in the second quarter and $49.60 billion in the third quarter of last year. 

Source: Statista

However, the company said that it expects a better revenue of $45.5 billion to $47.5 billion in the fourth quarter. 

According to the report, worldwide smartphone sales to end users by operating systems will see iPhone sales rising to 2,29,941 thousand units by the end of 2016 from 2,25,851 thousand units in the previous year.

In 2017 the report expects the iPhone sales to grow to 2,44,661 thousand units in 2017.

However, the growth of iPhone sales is much less in comparison to the sales growth witnessed in 2015 which was 17.9%. In 2014 too iPhone sales grew by a large 26.9%.

In 2015 iPhone sales grew from 1,91,426 thousand units in 2014 to 2,25,851 thousand units in 2015. While in 2013 the sales of the iPhone stood at 1,50,786 thousand units.  

Apple’s shares in May dropped to a two-year low. The share price of Apple had come to the level of what they were in 2012, according to a Fortune report.

Apple’s shares reached its highest at $122.57 in November 2015 after the launch of the iPhone 6 in September. It dropped to its lowest in May at $90.34 after it reported the slowdown in iPhone sales for the second quarter.

Currently, Apple’s shares stand at $107.70.