When you look over Apple’s history, and its brushes with disaster in the mid-1990s, maybe you can understand the reason for skepticism about the company’s ongoing success. But after nearly 20 years, one would think that such fears, or hopes, would fade away. No company that rises to the heights of Apple, and remains there for so long, could have gotten there by a fluke.

Despite the fact that sales have dropped for the past two quarters, Apple has sold more than one billion iPhones. How is that a fluke? Besides, iPhones are hugely profitable. No other mobile handset maker comes close, not even Samsung. Sure, Samsung sells more units than Apple overall, but not of the high-end smartphones. Even at reduced numbers, tens of millions of iPhones find their way into the hands of customers every quarter.

Also consider the iPad, where Apple has moved tens of millions since it debuted in 2010. True, sales hit the skids for a while, and they were lower this past quarter as well. But the sales mix has begun to favor the more expensive iPad Pro. The result is that total revenue actually increased. With iOS 10, Apple has removed compatibility from a number of older models, which may fuel spur upgrades this fall.

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This article was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2016 at 12:00 AM and is filed under News and tagged with: Apple, iOS, iOS 10, iPad, iPad Pro, Iphone.