APPLE Inc. yesterday posted its first-ever decline in iPhone sales and first revenue drop in more than a decade as the company credited with inventing the smartphone struggles with an increasingly saturated market.

    The company’s sales dropped by more than a quarter in China, its most important market after the United States, and it also forecast another disappointing quarter for global revenues.

    Apple said it sold 51.2 million iPhones in its second fiscal quarter, down from 61.2 million in the same quarter a year ago but above analysts’ estimates of about 50 million devices.

    Apple was hard pressed to top sales from the year-ago quarter, which was boosted by the recent launch of a new generation of iPhones, Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri said. The phones featured larger screen sizes and sparked historic sales.

    “The iPhone 6 is an anomaly, and so it creates a very difficult comparison for us,” he said.

    While Apple executives had predicted iPhone sales would decline this quarter, they must reassure investors that the drop represents a momentary roadblock, rather than a permanent shift for the product that fueled its meteoric rise.

    After years of blockbuster sales, many investors fear the iPhone has reached saturation, spelling the end for Apple’s exponential growth.

    The company has yet to present another device that can drive sales on that order, though last year it released the Apple Watch, its first new product without legendary co-founder Steve Jobs at the helm.

    “Apple is going to be put in a position, in a defensive position of how they show growth, and this is an area that Apple has not had to do for the last few years,” said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

    Earnings of US$1.90 per share fell short of the average analyst estimate of US$2 per share. Revenue of US$50.56 billion missed expectations of US$51.97 billion.

    Apple forecast third-quarter revenue of US$41-US$43 billion, short of the Wall Street consensus of US$47.3 billion.

    Apple also said it was raising its capital return program by US$50 billion through a US$35 billion increase in its share buyback authorization and a 10 percent rise in the quarterly dividend. (SD-Agencies)