Dive Brief:
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Despite a 33% jump in Apple's third quarter revenue to $49.6 billion, the company's fourth quarter revenue forecast — of $49 billion to $51 billion — failed to meet the average estimate by analysts of $51.13 billion, according to Reuters.
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Apple said it missed some targets for iPhone sales — selling only 47.5 million iPhones worldwide, which fell short of the predicted 49 million sales.
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Meanwhile, Apple more than doubled sales in China, and said it plans to open 40 stores there over the next year.
Dive Insight:
On the bright side, Apple said sales of the Apple Watch were higher than expected, though company officials declined to share specific figures.
Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, said the weaker results spotlight Apple’s dependence on the iPhone and the Chinese market's growing importance to the company. “Smartphone sales are slowing,” he said. “What's going to happen when the industry matures, just like PCs did?”
Last week, IT executives said CIOs have struggled to embrace Apple products due to the consumer-first company's lack of support for the enterprise.
Apple's news comes during the same week Microsoft reported its first quarterly loss in three years and IBM announced its 13th-straight quarterly decline in revenue.
