Apple cut its revenue forecast on Wednesday, with CEO Tim Cook blaming poor iPhone sales in China.
The company said it expected to bring in about US$84bn during the quarter that ended on Saturday – down from a previous estimate of US$89bn, which would result in an almost 5 percent decline from the same quarter a year ago.
“While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,†Cook said in a letter to Apple investors.
“We believe the economic environment in China has been further impacted by rising trade tensions with the United States,†he added.
In addition, slumping financial markets seemed to hurt consumer confidence in China, he said, “with traffic to our retail stores and our channel partners in China declining as the quarter progressedâ€.
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Cook also told CNBC that the company’s products had not been targeted by the Chinese government, though some consumers may have chosen another brand due to the fact that Apple is an American company.
Wednesday’s sales forecast was the first time that Apple had revised its guidance to investors for more than 15 years.
Apple’s shares sank more than 7 percent in after-hours trade, extending its more than 28 percent slide since November
