Have we reached "peak iPhone"?

Charlotte Henry explores whether Apple's key product is starting to lose its magic

- CHARLOTTE HENRY

An iPod, a phone, an internet communicator… An iPod, a phone – are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone.”

Ever since 2007, when Steve Jobs got on stage, uttered those words, and changed the history of his company yet again, the iPhone has sat right at the heart of Apple’s now multi-trillion-dollar empire. Year after year, the company rolls out the latest model offering various feature improvements. Year after year consumers flock to buy it. Or do they?

Sixteen years after the iPhone launched, there are certainly a lot of Apple smartphones in the world. In the statement accompanying Apple’s first earnings report of 2023, which covers the last three months of 2022, chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook said:

“During the December quarter, we achieved a major milestone and are excited to report that we now have more than 2 billion active devices as part of our growing installed base.”

It is safe to assume a significant proportion of these active devices are iPhones. Interestingly though, Apple’s chief financial officer (CFO) Luca Maestri used the same statement to emphasise that “we set an all-time revenue record of $20.8 billion in our Services business.” Apple is certainly keen to show investors that the revenue from its services offering is growing, but if iPhone sales were booming then that is surely what he would have focused on.

Telling numbers