Apple sees first sales dip in more than a decade as super-growth era falters
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) forecast its first revenue drop in 13 years and reported the slowest-ever growth in iPhone shipments as the critical Chinese market showed signs of weakening, suggesting the technology company's period of exponential growth may be ending.
The company's shares, which have fallen 5 percent this year, bounced around in after-hours trading and were down 0.7 percent as a call with analysts was underway.
"It's disappointing to see them miss on an already downward adjusted sales number and the fact is that with their iPhone growth slowing what was needed was a product to be excited about," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. "Pressure on the shares will continue without a well-defined plan to grow sales or a new product."
The most valuable publicly traded U.S. tech company said on Tuesday it sold 74.8 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter, ended Dec. 26, the first full quarter of sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The 0.4 percent growth in shipments was the lowest since the product was launched in 2007.
IPhone sales were expected to fall for the current quarter over a year ago, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts.
While revenue in Greater China rose 14 percent in the last quarter, Apple is beginning to see a shift in the economy, particularly in Hong Kong, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters in an interview.
No comments:
Post a Comment