Apple Inc has forecast its first revenue drop in 13 years weighed down by the slowest ever rise in the sale of flagship product iPhone.
What with iPhone sales looking like having hit a plateau and the smartwatch not offering as good as a success as iPhone, the tech major has hit a rocky patch. Its shares are down 5 percent this year and closed 2.6 percent down on Tuesday.
"Pressure on the shares will continue without a well-defined plan to grow sales or a new product," J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade, told Reuters.
"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."
iPhone sales account for about two-thirds of Apple's revenue. While iPad sales have been declining for the last two year, Mac computer sales too has slowed down of late.
Data showed the 0.4 percent growth in shipments in the last quarter was the lowest since the product was launched in 2007. Apple 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.
Earlier reports had shown that Apple suppliers were revising down their sales and revenue forecasts.
This indicated iPhone sales were almost certain to post their first annual decline since the flagship product was launched almost a decade ago.
The forecasts of lackluster sales by companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's biggest contract chipmaker, and smartphone camera lens producer Largan Precision Co Ltd had added to concerns about Apple's outlook amid slowing global demand for smartphones.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts he expected iPhone sales to fall in the current quarter as well.
