To appease shareholders, the company announced a 10 percent increase in the quarterly dividend to USD 0.57 per share and increased its share buyback authorisation to USD 175 billion from USD 140 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook said total shareholder returns will increase by USD 50 billion to a cumulative USD 250 billion by the end of March 2018.
Apple shipped 51.19 million iPhones in the three months to March, down 16 percent from a year earlier and 32 percent less than in the December quarter. iPhone revenue was down 18 percent on an annual basis to nearly USD 32.9 billion. iPad sales also fell, by 19 percent on an annual basis, to 10.25 million units, and Mac sales were down 12 percent year-on-year to 4.03 million units. Services revenue continued to grow, up 20 percent from a year ago to USD 5.99 billion, and 'other' products, such as the Apple Watch and Apple TV, contributed USD 2.19 billion in revenue, up 30 percent year-on-year.
On a geographic basis, Apple's revenues fell the hardest in the Greater China region, down 26 percent from a year ago to USD 12.5 billion. Revenue in the Americas was down 10 percent to USD 19.1 billion, and European revenues fell 5 percent to USD 11.5 billion, while Japan sales were higher, up 24 percent to USD 4.3 billion.
For fiscal Q3, Apple forecast a further slide in revenues, to USD 41-43 billion from USD 49.6 billion a year ago. The gross margin is also expected to come under pressure, at an estimated 37.5-38 percent versus 39.4 percent in the past quarter.
