Apple's streak of iPhone-powered sales ended Tuesday when the company reported its first quarterly sales drop in more than a decade.
The news sent Apple's (AAPL) stock into a tailspin with
shares plunging 6.5% to $97.55 in late trading Wednesday.

CEO Tim Cook signaled a saturated smartphone market
would keep a lid on sales, although he suggested the
company's new entry-level smartphone, the SE, promised to
eventually goose sales among Android switchers and in
emerging markets such as China and India.

"The SE is attracting two types of customers, who want the
latest tech in a more compact package, and there are more
than we thought in that category. And those who want an
iPhone but couldn't afford the entry price (before)," Cook
told analysts. "We're excited where this can take us."
USA TODAY.

Apple misses by a mile: Wipes out $43B Sales dropped 13% to $50.6 billion Apple said late Tuesday. Profits were $10.5 billion, or $1.90 per diluted share, down 22% from $13.6 billion ($2.33 per diluted share) last year.

Analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence expected
sales of $52 billion and a profit of $2 per share.

The disappointing quarter can be summed up in two words:
iPhone sales. Apple sold 51.2 million in the quarter, down
16% from the same period a year ago. It's the first year-
over-year decline in Apple's franchise product since it
debuted in 2007l.
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"The company relies on iPhone sales not only for profit but
also to extend their ecosystem," says Gartner analyst Brian
Blau. "By any measure a $10 billion profit in a quarter would
be great performance, but for Apple that high level is simply
getting by."

Cook signaled that the company remains optimistic about its
ability to capture new customers in emerging markets. In
China, Apple has now opened 35 stores and expects to open
five more in the coming months, Cook said on the analyst
call. In India, the gradual adoption of high-speed LTE
networks will "unleash the power and capability of the
iPhone in the way a 2G network would not do."

Apple's first year-over-year quarterly sales decline since
2003 hammered its stock in after-hours trading Tuesday
and fell further as CEO Tim Cook and other analysts talked.
(Apple announced its results after markets closed.)
Apple did have some good news for investors. The
company’s board approved a $50 billion increase to the
capital-return program for shareholders. The world's most
valuable public company plans to spend an aggregate of
$250 billion in cash by March 2018.
Separately, the board said it was increasing its quarterly
dividend 10%.

Cook and Co. to address Q2 decline on earnings call
The bumpy second-quarter results could be the start of a
rocky ride for the iconic company, which faces tough year-
over-year comparisons in the June and September quarters,
according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Apple said Tuesday it forecasts $41 billion to $43 billion in
fiscal third-quarter sales, far short of Wall Street estimates
of $47.3 billion. Consumers have not snapped up the latest
iPhones, the 6S and 6S Plus, because they aren't much
different from previous models, analysts say.
Things should pick up in the December quarter, analysts
predict, after the expected release of what could be
an iPhone 7 in early September.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/04/26/apples-poor-results-highlight-diminished-iphone-demand/83388452/