Apple faces longest sales slowdown in decades as iPhone slumps
Apple Inc. posted its third straight quarter of declining sales and predicted a similar performance in the current period, hurt by an industrywide slump that has sapped demand for phones, computers and tablets.
After the company reported a revenue decline of 1.4% in the fiscal third quarter, Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said on a conference call that Apple's performance would be similar this period. An additional drop would mark the longest streak of declines in two decades — a startling slowdown for the world's most valuable company.
“The environment is challenging,” Daniel Flax, a senior research analyst at Neuberger Berman, said in an interview with Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television. “Consumers face pressure from general interest rates, higher inflation. There are a lot of cross currents that Apple, like a lot of other companies, cannot outrun.”
Though Apple's overall revenue of $81.8 billion came in just above Wall Street estimates last quarter — helped by record-setting services sales — iPhone demand was weaker than predicted. That jarred investors, who sent the stock down as much as 3.2% in extended trading.
Apple shares had been up 47% in 2023 through the close, part of a broader tech-fueled rally this year. If the stock slide continues in regular trading on Friday, Apple risks losing its $3 trillion valuation — a historic milestone that it reached in June.
On the call with analysts, executives blamed foreign exchange headwinds for hurting results. A stronger dollar has eroded the company's revenue, most of which comes from overseas. Maestri, along with Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, stressed that sales would be up on an annual basis if currency were held constant.
Still, the report showed that Apple's
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