Washington: Tech giant Apple fell on a year-to-year basis for the first time ever since 2003. Financial results for its fiscal 2016 Q2, which ended on March 26, showed a huge decline in revenue and income. The company’s sales dropped by more than a quarter in China, its most important market after the United States, and it also forecast another disappointing quarter for global revenues.
Apple said it sold 51.2 million iPhones in its second fiscal quarter, down from 61.2 million in the same quarter a year ago but above analysts’ estimates of about 50 million devices. Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters that the success of the iPhone 6 a year earlier had set a difficult bar to beat in the second quarter. “The iPhone 6 is an anomaly,” he said. Its shares fell about 8 percent, dropping below $100 for the first time since February. A hike in Apple’s share buyback and dividend as well as bumper revenue from services failed to mollify investors.
Earnings of $1.90 per share fell short of the average analyst estimate of $2 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue of $50.56 billion missed expectations of $51.97 billion. Apple forecast third-quarter revenue of $41 billion to $43 billion, short of the Wall Street consensus of $47.3 billion. Apple also said it was raising its capital return program by $50 billion through a $35 billion increase in its share buyback authorization and a 10 percent rise in the quarterly dividend.