Peak iPhone? Analysts Say Sales Set To Drop

Analysts say Apple (LSE: 0R2V.L - news) 's iPhone may have peaked, predicting that the device will suffer its first ever year-on-year sales decline when quarterly earnings come out next week.

Reports from major Apple analysts - including UBS (NYSEArca: FBGX - news) , Pacific Crest and Piper Jaffray - predict an upcoming slump in the number of iPhones sold.

Apple has never reported a decline in iPhone sales, so it could be a pivotal moment in the nine-year history of one of the world's most popular consumer products.

Analysts say there is evidence of poor demand for the current iPhone 6s model, and believe that even the release of the iPhone 7 in the autumn may not be enough to avoid a continued stock dip.

Search traffic for the iPhone declined by about 20% in the US from September to December.

The company's shares are down 27.3% on their all-time high back in May 2015.

However, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich said the future could still be bright for Apple.

He said: "Over the next couple of years, we do think that Apple is going to begin to gain share.

"A lot of what we are talking about is the timing of upgrades, but the Apple ecosystem appears to be as strong as ever."

The first iPhone was released on 29 June 2007, with a new model released every year since then.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) managed to squeeze out BlackBerry (Swiss: BB.SW - news) as a major smartphone player, and recently beat back Samsung's dominance with its larger screen phones (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .