Apple announces it's sold one billion iPhones
Apple has announced it sold one billion iPhone models as of last week.
Carrying the excitement of its narrow earnings beat a day earlier, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, made the announcement during a meeting with employees on Wednesday.
"Last week we passed another major milestone when we sold the billionth iPhone," said Cook in a statement. "We never set out to make the most, but we've always set out to make the best products that make a difference. Thank you to everyone at Apple for helping change the world every day."
In an earnings report on Tuesday, Apple reported its second straight quarter of declining iPhone sales -- likely hampered by slowing sales in China and market saturation. It sold 40.39 million iPhones, down by 21 percent from the year-ago quarter.
"We are pleased to report third quarter results that reflect stronger customer demand and business performance than we anticipated at the start of the quarter," Cook said during a conference call with investors after the earnings release. "We had a very successful launch of iPhone SE and we're thrilled by customers' and developers' response to software and services we previewed at WWDC in June."
Cook touted the success of the iPhone SE, saying demand outstripped supply.
"Our initial sales data tells us that the iPhone SE is popular in both developed and emerging markets, and the percentage of iPhone SE sales going to customers who are new to iPhone is greater than we've seen in the first weeks of availability for other iPhones launched in the last several years," Cook said on Tuesday.
Apple is widely expected to launch a new iPhone in September, though the phone's design isn't expected to deviate far from the iPhone 6s, as the company will instead focus on iOS 10.
In January, Apple announced one billion combined iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch sales.