Apple sells one billion phones

Apple announced on Wednesday morning that its sold its one billionth iPhone.

This comes at a time when iPhone sales have been falling for two straight quarters, and some analysts wonder whether the iPhone itself has peaked. CEO Tim Cook said on an the earnings call Tuesday that Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones in the quarter, down from 47.5 million iPhones for the year-ago quarter. When the iPhone 6 was released in 2014, Apple sold nearly 75 million phones over the holiday quarter.

Reports have suggested that Apple will not be releasing the iPhone 7 this year, but will instead wait for its 10 year milestone next year. According to analysts, Apple could unveil what's being called on enthusiast sites the iPhone 6SE, which wouldn't have a major re-design, but instead a handful of new features--32 GB of memory for the starter edition, improved camera and a thinner body.

"iPhone has become one of the most important, world-changing and successful products in history." Cook, Apple CEO said at the employee meeting. "It's become more than a constant companion. iPhone is truly an essential part of our daily life and enables much of what we do throughout the day,"

In January, Apple announced breaking the 1 billion milestone for I-devices--iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches.

At the time, the iPhone represented about 750 million of the 1 billion total. In 2014, Google announced a worldwide base of over 1.4 billion Android devices--multiple phones and tablets, including the Samsung Galaxy, LG G series and others, but hasn't updated the number since.