Frankie Cordeira Jr.

Description: Surprise slide in iPhone sales... Apple Inc reported a surprise fall in iPhone sales for the second quarter on Tuesday indicating that customers had held back purchases in anticipation of the 10th-anniversary edition launch of the company's most important product. The company boosted its capital return program by $50 billion increasing its share repurchase authorization by $35 billion and raising its quarterly dividend by 10.5 percent. Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its fiscal second quarter ended 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. Expectations are building ahead of Apple's 10th-anniversary iPhone range this fall with investors hoping that the launch would help bolster sales. Apple typically launches its new iPhones in September. A big jump in sales usually follows in the holiday quarter before demand tapers over the next few quarters as customers hold back ahead of the next launch. Apple's 10th-anniversary iPhone range might sport features such as wireless charging 3-D facial recognition and a curved display. The company forecast total revenue of between $43.5 billion and $45.5 billion for the current quarter while analysts on average were expecting $45.60 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Analysts on average expect the company to sell 42.31 million iPhones in the current quarter according to FactSet. The company's net income rose to $11.03 billion or $2.10 per share in the second quarter from $10.52 billion or $1.90 per share a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $2.02 per share according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 4.6 percent to $52.90 billion in the quarter compared with analysts' average estimate of $53.02 billion. A 17.5 percent jump in the company's services business - which includes the App Store Apple Pay and iCloud - to $7.04 billion boosted revenue. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
By Frankie Cordeira Jr.
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