iPhone Sales Drop in Q1 of 2017

iPhone sales dropped in the first three months of 2017 than a year ago, Apple said in its latest results.

Apple, which is due to release a new phone later this year, said it sold 50.8 million iPhones in the Q1 of 2017, down 1% year-on-year.

The company’s CEO Tim Cook blamed a “pause” as customers wait for the next iPhone.

Apple shares fell nearly 2% in after-hours trading after earlier hitting a record high on expectations of better results.

The company reported a 4.6% rise in revenue across the whole company to $52.9 billion, slightly below analysts’ forecasts.

The dip in iPhone sales was offset by services, including Apple Pay, iCloud and the App store, which recorded an 18% increase in sales to $7 billion.

Tim Cook also pointed to growth in sales of Apple Watch, as well as its AirPods and Beats earphones.

Despite falling unit sales, revenue from iPhones still climbed 1% to $33.2 billion due to “robust” sales of its bigger, more expensive iPhone 7 Plus.

China, which was partly to blame for the slowdown in 2016, was again difficult for Apple. Revenue from China dropped 14%, although Tim Cook partly blamed currency fluctuations for the fall.

Apple said quarterly profits were $11 billion worldwide, up 4.9% from the same period in 2016.

The company also announced it would return an extra $50 billion to shareholders.

Apple’s cash holdings have risen to a record $256.8 billion and the company has come under increasing pressure to disclose its plans for the money.