LEADING figures in Dorset’s digital sector say Apple will continue to dominate their industry despite expectations of the first ever fall in iPhone sales.

Apple posted a record profit of 18.4billion US dollars (£12.8bn) for the quarter ending on December 26 last year.

But iPhone sales grew by only 0.4 per cent to 74.8million – the slowest rate in the device’s history and a huge drop compared with the 46 per cent growth in the same quarter last year.

The company said it expected revenue in the second quarter of 2016 to be between 50bn and 53bn US dollars, down from 58bn US in the same quarter last year, with iPhone sales expected to decline in that quarter for the first time.

Phillip Caudell, who develops apps for Apple’s iOS operating system and Google’s Android system at Westbourne company 3 Sided Cube, said Apple remained the more popular platform for downloads.

He said there were no figures to show how much revenue the Android system brought to Google.

“We’re not too worried. We always see a tendency to more iOS downloads than Android,” he said.

“There are only so many people who can buy an iPhone before you saturate the market. When one billion people have got an iPhone, there’s only so far you can go before everyone’s got one.

“People keep their iPhone for a really long time. You buy a phone and you probably keep it for two or three years. It used to be a habit you’d upgrade it after a year.”

He said 3 Sided Cube’s clients normally asked for both an iOS and Android app, with Windows phones yet to take hold and the Blackberry operating system no longer popular enough to justify development of apps.

Matt Desmier of Wise Old Uncle, the organiser of Bournemouth’s Silicon Beach festival, said: “A recent study suggests that over 90 per cent of the profit in the smartphone market and ecosystem (i.e. app stores etc) is attributable to Apple.

"So whilst a dip in their revenue and an apparent slowdown in the iPhone sales growth might cause concern to Apple’s board, they no doubt have a strategy in place to grow another side of the business – the news yesterday that they’re potentially developing cars, the next generation Apple Watch, the virtual reality team they’re apparently building, etc.

“Any business that puts all of its eggs in one basket, i.e. developing apps for just iOS, is doomed for failure in the long run because markets and trends are constantly evolving.”

Robert Rutherford, chief executive of Bournemouth-based business IT provider QuoStar, said of the iPhone: “It’s not the innovative product any more.”

He said many people found iPhones too “closed box”, tying the user into Apple platforms such as iTunes. “People want some flexibility in products. These days they want choice,” he said.

He has recently been using the Priv, Blackberry's first Android device, while his staff are using Windows phones and tablets. “My guys use the Microsoft Surface. It’s a fully functioning, powerful computer,” he added.