Apple CEO Tim Cook in an Apple Store during one of his visits in 2015. (Photo : Getty Images/Andrew Burton)
Apple did not disclose sales figures for its new Apple iPhone SE in its recent financial results announcement but the company said its demand is higher than expected. Released on March 31, the iPhone SE is intended to draw new customers with its powerful specs and affordable price.
"None of its sales were reflected in our 2nd quarter results but so far this quarter, we're seeing terrific customer response," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the conference call on April 26, Tuesday. "Demand has been very strong and exceeds supply at this point but we're working hard to get the iPhone SE into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible."
Apple announced during the call its financial results for the second quarter of 2016 which ended March 26. The iPhone SE has been in short supply despite reports of uninspiring sales. Orders for the devices have listed two to three weeks delivery time, which suggests the Cupertino, California-based tech company has not met the demand for the device yet, according to MacRumors.
With an attractive price of $399 for the 16GB model, the 4-inch iPhone SE has the external looks of the iPhone 5s but has the internal specs of the most recent iPhone 6 and 6s. Hence, the new iPhone is on par with the current flagship devices, performance wise.
The iPhone maker believes in the promising future of Apple Watch, which it introduced in April 2015, while the positive customer response to the iPhone SE comes amid the decline of iPhone sales. Apple suffers its first ever decline of flagship phone sales and year-over-year plummet of revenue in 13 years. It posted an income of $50.6 billion for the fiscal Q2 2016, compared to the $58 billion in Q2 2015. iPhone sales decline is expected to continue in the next quarter.
The company announced its Board of Directors authorized a $50 billion increase to its program to return to shareholders, with a plan to spend a cumulative $250 billion cash total by the end of March 2018. The Board likewise approved a 10 percent increase to the company's quarterly dividend, and declared a $0.57 per share dividend payable on May 12 to shareholders on record as of May 9.
The video below discusses the recently-announced Apple financial results in fiscal Q2 2016.
