Apple on Tuesday said it sold 40.4 million iPhones during the most recent quarter, down from 47.5 million in the same period one year ago. That translates to a 15 percent decline which is hauntingly similar to last quarter's 16 percent year-over-year drop.
That's not great news for the Cupertino-based company considering most believe the next iPhone - be it the iPhone 7 or iPhone 6SE - isn't expected to be a significant upgrade over what's currently available. In fact, controversial design decisions like eliminating the 3.5mm headphone jack could result in consumer pushback at a time when Apple really doesn't need it.
For the quarter, Apple posted $42.4 billion in revenues with a net income of $7.8 billion, or $1.42 per share. In the year-ago quarter, Apple generated $49.6 billion and a net income of $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per share.
That said, Apple beat Wall Street as analysts were expecting $42.2 billion in revenue and 40 million iPhones sold.
It's worth reiterating that selling 40+ million smartphones is far from "bad" as tons of companies would love to have those results. Given Apple's previous performance, however, a decline in sales is a decline in sales no matter how you slice it.
Elsewhere, Apple's iPad division saw sales decline for the 10th straight quarter, down nine percent to 9.95 million units sold. Mac sales checked in at 4.3 million units, down 11.3 percent year-over-year.
Looking ahead, Apple has forecasted revenues of between $45.5 billion and $47.5 billion for the upcoming quarter.