Apple CEO blames iPhone 8 rumors for slow iPhone sales (AAPL)

Apple slightly missed Wall Street's expectations for iPhone sales last quarter, and CEO Tim Cook has offered a reason why: rumors about the next iPhone."We're seeing what we believe to be a pause in purchases of iPhone, which we believe is due to the earlier and much more frequent reports about future iPhones," Cook said during the company's second-quarter earnings call with analysts on Tuesday. "That part is clearly going on... We are seeing that in full transparency."Apple is famously secretive, and while leaks about its future products are normally few and far between at this point in the calendar year, Cook is correct in pointing to an early uptick in rumors about the iPhone 8.The general consensus among reports and analysts is that Apple will release three new iPhones this fall, including a more expensive, higher-end device that could cost $1,000. Aesthetically,Apple is expected to adopt an edge-to-edge display, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8, and could potentially embed the home button underneath the screen, or move it to the rear of the device.There's also been chatter that the next iPhone will incorporate augmentedreality, the nascent technology that overlays virtual objects onto the real world. Business Insider has reported that Apple is working on building AR features into the iPhone's camera app and eventually plans to open up the technology to app developers.Aside from technical details about the new hardware, some have already suggested that Apple may be forced to delay shipments of the top-tiermodel of the iPhone 8 due to production issues.SEE ALSO:Everything we know about the iPhone 8, Apple's hotly anticipated next phoneJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: A former iPhone factory worker explains how they keep the new iPhones a secret
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