First-quarter earnings reports are out, and Apple showed mild growth, but it was not thanks to the iPhone. According to the Verge, iPhone sales were flat in the first part of 2017. In fact, they were less than flat; sales were down by one percent. However, the price point for the high-end smartphone was higher, which contributed to an overall increase in revenues of 4.5 percent over last year.

However, the sale of 50.76 million iPhones only accounts for just over half of the $53 billion the fruit phone producer raked in and it is usually higher. Apple CEO Tim Cook blames rumors of the iPhone 8 for the depressed sales and expects the last half of 2017 to be outstanding for the company. Where the company really opened strong was in wearables.

Apparently, the Apple Watch has been selling like hotcakes. Sales for the all-in-one gadget were nearly double over last year. In fact, one might even say that wearables are what is propping up the iPhone's lackluster sales.

"Overall revenue from sales of [Apple] wearable devices, including watches and headphones, is larger than a Fortune 500 company --- worth at least $5.1 billion." - The Verge

The Series 2 Apple Watch is doing quite well worldwide. According to Engadget, the device has beat the sales figures of every other major wearable competitor out there for Q1 2017. Overall sales of Apple wearables are up nearly 60 percent over last year. The company sold 3.5 million wearables in the first part of this year and finally kicked Fitbit out of its first place spot. The fitness bracelet producer only sold 2.9 million units in the first quarter, a decline of 36 percent compared to the same period last year. In fact, Fitbit did not just get ousted out of first place by Apple, but wearable maker Xiaomi also overtook the company, leaving it in third place for the quarter.

The first round of watches out of Cupertino has begun to come under some scrutiny lately due to a problem with battery expansion. It is too early to tell if these problems will affect sales of Series 2 watches during the rest of 2017, but Cook expects iPhone sales to rebound with the release of the iPhone 8. Of course, that is as long as it is released in 2017. There have been rumors the handset may be delayed due to design issues related to the fingerprint sensor.