Apple Sees First Sales Crisis In More Than A Decade

Despite these massive sales, Apple has forecast that revenue for the second quarter of 2016 will be lower than expectations as iPhone sales slow down.

Tech giant Apple has posted its results for the first quarter of the year, with the firm reporting a record-breaking $18.4bn in net income. However, the number of active devices clearly suggests that devices like the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac are in constant use, as they check in with iCloud and communicate with the App Store.

Apple, which is the world’s most valuable company by market share and sales, has not reported a fall in iPhone sales before but it’s understood that investors have feared a slowdown after the huge success of the last decade. This is quite impressive, especially in a market which is dominated by cheap Android devices.

The company announced that it sold 74.8 million iPhones worldwide during the period, a 0.4 percent rise from shipments a year ago but the slowest growth rate since the first iPhone was released in 2007. It was also the first big quarter for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which saw very little growth from previous year.

“We do think that iPhone units will decline in the quarter”, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said during an earnings call with analysts.

Apple did not break down the proportions each makes up, but about 735 million are iPhones sold in the latest quarter, according to the company’s records.

Apple’s results were hammered by a more expensive dollar – which makes their sales overseas less valuable – and economic turmoil, especially in large emerging markets like Brazil and Russian Federation.

The company’s quarterly revenues of .9bn were up 1.7% year-on-year, with Apple warning that it expects its revenues from the current quarter to be down year-on-year for the first time in 13 years.

China contributed close to 24.2 percent of total revenue with $18.37 billion revenue.

The launch of the iPad Pro helped Apple reporting 63 percent growth from the last quarter. Specifically, Apple posted revenue of $75.9 billion, setting an all-time quarterly record in the process.

The company did see growth in services, where revenue rose 26 percent, while revenue from a category known as other products – which include the Apple Watch – increased 62 percent.