Technology giant Apple has revealed that for the second consecutive quarter, iPhone sales have decreased, although the 15% fall wasn’t as bad as analysts thought. In the third quarter 40.4 million iPhones were sold which was marginally above forecasts of 40.02 million, but the company is expecting sales to drop again in the fourth quarter to between $45.5 billion (£34 billion) and $47.5 billion.
Tim Cook, Apple chief executive said the results reflected "stronger customer demand... than we anticipated".
The iPhone makes up for around two-thirds of Apple's sales.
Figures show that the slow-placed sales for the iPhone sent profit down 27% to $7.8 billion in the three months to 25th June and revenue dropped 14.6% to $42.4 billion. Figures in Greater China including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, decreased 33%.
Luca Maestri, chief financial officer at Apple, said: "It is very clear that there are some signs of economic slowdown in China, and we will have to work through them.
"We understand China well and we remain very, very optimistic about the future there."
Shares at Apple have fallen nearly 20% over the past year, however they increased more than 7% in after-hours trading as the company’s performance was not as bad as analysts had initially predicted.
