Apple might use a two-year cycle to launch its revamped iPhones, but that could be changing.

The tech giant has decided¹ to change its major model shakeups to once every three years, Nikkei is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. The company previously² launched major iPhone upgrades every two years.

According to the Nikkei, Apple’s decision is based in part in the realization³ that the smartphone market is changing more slowly than it had in the past, and its ability to deliver major innovations every two years has been hampered⁴.

While Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, it follows earlier reports on the company’s plans for the future.

Over the last several weeks, reports have been flying that Apple will not deliver a major iPhone upgrade this year. Instead, the company will reportedly deliver an iPhone 7 with a largely similar design to that of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s as well as some internal component⁵ improvements.

Yet those same reports suggest Apple will offer a fully remodeled iPhone featuring an all-glass enclosure and an OLED screen in 2017. The company has previously only offered LCD screens, which are thicker and don’t deliver the same color quality as OLED.

Since its launch in 2007, the iPhone has come with a regular update schedule. One year, the device has a major new design and is followed the next year by an “S” model that has the same design as the previous version, but comes with component upgrades. Last year was an “S” year, which had many guessing that the 2017 iPhone, believed to be known as the iPhone 7, would come with a major design upgrade.

That said, with the growing number of claims from analysts⁶ and unidentified sources that the company has changed plans, and recent leaks of images that purport⁷ to show the new iPhone’s design, that appears to not be the case.

What is unclear, however, is how the possible change to a three-year design upgrade could affect Apple’s bottom line. The company has historically had strong sales with each new iPhone, but its major upgrades tend to be its bestsellers. A three-year upgrade could change how the company’s iPhone business performs—good or bad.

For the first time ever, Apple’s iPhone business was down in its last-reported quarter, shining a bright light for the first time on that division’s performance.

Apple, of course, hasn’t said what its plans are, and it’s unlikely that the secretive iPhone maker⁸ will reveal any changes to its future plans. Still, expect the company to talk a bit about the iPhone and its iOS operating system on June 13 when it holds its annual Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

苹果公司或许是按每两年一次的节奏推出新款iPhone，但这种情况可能正在发生改变。

日本经济新闻社报道，自称了解其计划的人士透露，这家科技龙头公司已经决定每三年进行一次机型全面更新。此前iPhone的重大升级换代周期为两年。

该新闻社称，苹果做出上述决定的部分原因是它意识到智能手机市场的变化速度比以前慢了，而且自己每两年就推出重大创新的能力也受到了束缚。

虽然苹果没有马上对这篇报道做出回应，但这条消息和之前有关苹果未来计划的报道脉络一致。

过去几周，关于今年苹果不会对iPhone进行重大升级的消息满天飞。据报道，苹果将要推出的iPhone 7将采用和iPhone 6以及iPhone 6s大致相似的设计，只会提升一些部件的性能。

这些报道还指出，苹果将在2017年推出全新iPhone，采用全玻璃外壳和OLED（有机发光二极管）显示屏。此前的iPhone都使用液晶显示屏，它比OLED屏厚，颜色质量却不及后者。

自2007年问世以来，iPhone一直定期进行更新换代。如果某一年在设计上有重大革新，第二年就会出现“s”机型，它采用同样的设计，但会更新一些部件。去年是“s”机型年，这让许多人猜测今年的iPhone，也就是外界相信应称之为iPhone 7的产品会在设计上有重大进步。

不过，鉴于分析师和未具名消息人士越来越多地指出苹果已经调整了计划，再加上近期流出的谍照对新iPhone设计的揭秘，情况看来并非如此。

然而，还不知道这种潜在调整，也就是将设计升级周期变为三年将对苹果的利润产生怎样的影响。以往，所有新款iPhone均销售火爆，但最畅销的往往是经过重大升级的机型。将更新周期延长到三年或许会改变iPhone业务的表现，当然有可能变得更好，也有可能变差。

最新的季度业绩显示，iPhone业务出现了历史上首次滑坡——第一次对这项业务的表现亮起了红灯。

当然，苹果从未披露过自身的计划。这家神秘兮兮的iPhone制造商也不太可能透露今后的计划有何调整。不过，在6月13日召开的年度全球开发者大会上，预计苹果将介绍一些iPhone和iOS操作系统的情况。