Apple signals the long wait for new products is nearing an end

Apple has signalled that the long wait for new products is nearing an end.

With bigger-screen handsets in development, Apple said shoppers are delaying buying new iPhones, which will weigh on sales in the current quarter ending in September.

Yet rather than dissuade buyers from procrastinating, Apple stoked anticipation for new devices on a conference call, with chief executive officer Tim Cook talking about an “incredible pipeline” that “we can’t wait to show you,” and finance chief Luca Maestri declaring it would be a “very busy fall.”

Looking ahead to new gadgets is the main reason investors barely reacted to Apple’s fiscal third-quarter results yesterday.

The world’s most valuable company posted a 12 per cent rise in net income to $7.75 billion and a 6 per cent revenue increase to $37.4 billion, with strong iPhone and Mac sales making up for a drop in iPad demand.

Even so, Apple shares were little changed in extended trading, after rising less than 1 per cent to $94.72 at yesterday’s close in New York.

In German trading today, the shares slipped 0.1 per cent to the equivalent of $94.60 at 9.05am in Frankfurt.

Instead, investors were buzzing about Apple’s coming slew of products.

The California-based company, which hasn’t released a new mobile device since last year, is working on larger-screen iPhones, a potential wearable device and an upgrade to Apple TV, people familiar with the plans have said.

“You’d have to live in a cave to not know that Apple is coming out with a big new batch of iPhones,” said Michael Binger, a senior portfolio manager at Gradient Investments, which manages about $600 million and owns Apple stock. “We’re coming in to a big time for Apple in the back half of the year.”

Apple has released new iPhones each September for the past two years.

Bloomberg