Weak iPhone Sales Weigh on Apple

Apple has reported that it expects its sales slump to continue into the current quarter, predicting potentially the fourth consecutive quarter of declining sales. Despite beating Wall Street sales and profit targets for the fiscal third quarter, weaker-than-expected iPhone sales have caused investor disappointment. The tech giant's fiscal third-quarter sales fell by 1.4% to $81.8 billion, although earnings per share rose by 5% to $1.26. Weaker iPhone sales were counterbalanced by strong sales in the services segment, which includes Apple TV+, and by sales in China that grew 8% year over year. Apple has significantly increased its research and development spending to $22.61 billion this fiscal year, up by $3.12 billion from the previous year, with a significant portion invested in generative artificial intelligence. Apple's next big product, the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, announced in June, is unavailable to consumers.