Apple reports decline in iPhone sales as users await upgrade
Apple Inc reported a surprise fall in iPhone sales for its second quarter on Tuesday, indicating that customers may have held back purchases in anticipation of the 10th-anniversary edition of the company’s most important product later this year.
Under pressure from shareholders to hand over more of its $250 billion-plus hoard of cash and investments, Apple boosted its capital return programme by $50 billion, increased its share repurchase authorisation by $35 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 10.5%.
Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its fiscal second quarter ended April 1, down from 51.19 million a year earlier.
Analysts on average had estimated iPhone sales of 52.27 million, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri argued the decline was not as bad as it looked, given the peculiari- ties of how phone sales are calculated.
Despite the dip in unit sales, iPhone revenues rose 1.2% in the quarter, helped by a higher average selling price.
For the second quarter, the company’s net income rose to $11.03 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with $10.52 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.6% to $52.90 billion in the quarter. REUTERS Bullish on India, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the US tech giant was bolstering its presence in India’s “underpenetrated” market to tap the huge growth opportunities in the fastgrowing economy.
“We set a new March quarter record for India, where revenue grew by strong double digits,” Cook said on an earnings call. “We’re very optimistic about our future in this remarkable country with its very large, young, and techsavvy population, fastgrowing economy, and improving 4G network infrastructure.”
NEW YORK/PTI