Apple reversed iPhone slump. But what’s next?

Jobs continues to cast a long shadow over the company

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple has snapped out of the first sales slump in the iPhone’s decadelong history, although the modest upturn doesn’t mean that it has broken out of its innovation funk.

If anything, the numbers Apple released Tuesday highlight the company’s growing dependence on the iPhone, whose sales tower above Apple’s other current offerings. The company hasn’t managed to come up with another breakthrough product since Steve Jobs died in 2011.

Meanwhile, Apple’s rivals have rolled out new products in other promising fields such as augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Selling more iPhones has been getting tougher as more people hold on to older models for longer periods and competitors such as Samsung and Google entice customers with sleek devices running on Android software. The trend led to three consecutive quarters in which iPhone sales fell compared to the prior year, causing Apple’s total revenue to sag as well.

Apple bounced back in the quarter ending in December, buoyed by a positive response to the late September release of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. That device featured a better camera, which drew rave reviews, and no jack for headphones, which irked some consumers and befuddled others.

Apple shipped 78.3 million iPhones in the latest quarter, a 5 percent increase compared to the previous year. It benefited from a year-end quarter consisting of 14 weeks, one more than the previous year period. If not for the calendar quirk, the iPhone sales slump might not have ended. Apple sold an average of 5.6 million iPhones per week in the latest quarter compared to 5.7 million iPhones per week in the previous year.

About 17 percent of all iPhones are now 7 models, according to the research firm Localytics. Most of the rest are older iPhone 6 or iPhone 5 models. Apple could have sold more of the iPhone 7 Plus, which boasts a bigger screen and an extra camera, but the company misgauged demand and didn’t make enough to meet customer demand, CEO Tim Cook said during a conference call.

Anticipation is building for the expected release of a 10th anniversary iPhone of some sort this summer or fall. Many smartphone owners could hold off until they get a good look at this year’s iPhone, says Daniel Ives, a senior vice president for the mobile research firm Synchronoss Technologies.

“It’s like a drum roll while everyone waits for the curtains to roll back to unveil the next iPhone,” Ives says. “There is a lot of pent-up demand out there, so this has the potential to be a game changer.”

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks during an event launching the iPhone 7, which buoyed the company’s fourth-quarter results.