Quarterly revenue at Apple have declined for the first time since 2003, as iPhone sales weaken amid strong competition.
In its quarterly sales report, Apple said it sold 51.2 million iPhones in the first three months of 2016.
That was down on the 61 million sold a year earlier but slightly better than had been predicted. Sales of Mac computers and iPads also declined.
As a eresult, revenues, fell by 13% to $50.6bn – just short of expectations. It meant that Apple recorded the first dip in quarterly sales since 2003.
The iPhone, first launched in 2007, accounts for almost two-thirds of its revenue. Apple is the world’s second most valuable firm by market value, recently surpassed by Google’s Alphabet.
The company is battling perceptions that its latest iPhones are not dramatically different from previous models in an increasingly competitive market that has also been hit by the world economic slowdown.
Apple’s share price fell 8% in after-hours trading. That was likely to be a consequence of the company forecasting another revenue drop of 13% or more in the current third quarter.
A pledge to return an extra $50bn to shareholders by the start of 2019 did nothing to halt the decline in the stock’s value in extended trading.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said: “Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds. We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices”.
Apple has said it is expanding its other interests to help offset the smartphone sales decline.