Apple reportedly postpones major iPhone changes

The next iPhone may not inspire as many people to upgrade their smartphones as some previous generations have. According to The Wall Street Journal, the next iPhone will look very similar to the company’s current flagship, the iPhone 6s. The biggest expected change is something that many consumers may see as a negative.
Apple will reportedly eliminate the iPhone’s dedicated headphone plug, instead giving users one plug for charging the phone and attaching headphones. This is seen as a way to reduce the width of the phone. Apple also may want to encourage more customers to use Bluetooth headphones. Last year the company acquired headphone maker Beats Audio for $3 billion.
In the past, Apple has introduced significant iPhone hardware improvements every other year. In 2014, the larger-screen iPhone 6 helped fuel record sales of 74.5 million iPhones in the fourth calendar quarter of that year.
The absence of a major wave of iPhone upgrades this fall could impact fourth-quarter earnings for the wireless carriers. At the same time, low expectations for the next iPhone could prompt some people to upgrade this summer instead of waiting. Verizon Wireless CFO Fran Shammo told investors last month that he thinks customers are waiting for the next iPhone, and postponing upgrades.
“Upgrades are very slow right now,” Shammo said. “And we saw the same phenomenon back in … the first quarter of 2014, into the second quarter, because everybody knew that Apple was on this two-year cycle of refresh and I think what you’re seeing is consumers are waiting to see what’s potentially coming in the fourth quarter.”
Apple suppliers that manufacture iPhone screens have been saying for some time that the next-generation iPhone screen will not be ready this fall. A curved organic light-emitting diode display is expected to be part of the fall 2017 iPhone.
Of course fall is still three months away so it will be some time before the world knows for sure what Apple has planned. It seems very likely that the next iPhone will be integrated with new Apple hardware or software, as the company looks to expand its business beyond the slowing smartphone market. At its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple launched a new smart home application, a sign that the company’s traditional fall launch may include new products that are not smartphones this year.
Another 4.7-inch flagship iPhone could find a big market in China if the Chinese government forces the company to stop selling the iPhone 6 and 6s in that country. Chinese regulators recently moved to block sales of the two devices, saying their design infringed on a Chinese patent held by a company called Shenzhen Baili. Apple said last week that the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing intellectual property court. China is Apple’s biggest market for the iPhone.