Apple posts dip in iPhone sales and revenue from Greater China
BUSINESS
By Yan Qiong

2017-05-03 12:30 GMT+8

Apple 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 dollars hoard of cash and investments, Apple boosted its capital return program by 50 billion dollars, increased its share repurchase authorization by 35 billion dollars and raised its quarterly dividend by 10.5 percent.
Investors were unmoved, sending shares of the world's most valuable listed company down 1.9 percent at 144.65 dollars in after-hours trading.
This file photo taken on September 14, 2016 shows the Apple logo at the entrance to the Fifth Ave. Apple store in New York, US. /VCG Photo 
Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its fiscal second quarter ending 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 Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri argued the decline was not as bad as it looked, given the peculiarities of how phone sales are calculated.
The company reports what are called "sell-in" figures for the iPhone, a measure of how many units it sells to retailers, rather than "sell-through" figures, which measure how many phones are actually sold to consumers.
Maestri said the company reduced the volume of inventory going through its retail channel by about 1.2 million units in the quarter, meaning the company sold about 52 million phones to customers on a sell-through basis.
Despite the dip in unit sales, iPhone revenues rose 1.2 percent in the quarter, helped by a higher average selling price.
Apple's revenue from the Greater China region fell 14.1 percent to 10.73 billion dollars in the quarter, as cheaper rivals in the region chipped away at sales.
Maestri said that sales of Macs and the company's services were strong in China during the March quarter. “The performance we’re seeing in China should get better going forward this year,” he said.
(Source: Reuters)

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