Apple punished as iPhone sales fall for first time ever

Shares in Apple fell 8% after-hours after the US tech giant’s revenues fell for the first time since 2003 as iPhone sales dropped.

The world’s largest company by stock market value saw second-quarter sales fall to $50.6 billion from $58 billion the year before.

Sales of the iPhone, which make up almost two-thirds of Apple’s sales, fell for the first time ever, to 51.2 million in the second quarter from 61.2 million in the same period last in 2015.

The economic slowdown in China was largely to blame as sales slumped 26% in the world’s largest smartphone market.

Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook said: “Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds.

“We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.”

Apple shares have fallen 20% over the past year on concerns the smartphone boom is over. The 8% fall after the closing bell on Wall Street wiped $45 billion off the value of the company.

However, Edison analyst Richard Windsor said: “iPhone shipments fell by far less than many had feared, confirming my view that this is the end of a cycle not a secular decline.”