When Apple delivered its yesterday afternoon, expectations weren鈥檛 as high as they have been for the last couple of years. Given the anticipated slowdown in iPhone sales, it was clear that the company would struggle to continue its run of sustained revenue growth. And what a run it has been: Between April 2003 and December 2015, Apple鈥檚 revenue grew on a year-over-year basis for 51 consecutive quarters. During these 13 years, the company鈥檚 revenue grew from $1.5 billion in Q3 2003 to a record of $75.9 billion in the 2015 holiday quarter.
All good things must come to an end eventually and Apple鈥檚 streak ended last night (or in the past quarter for that matter). The company reported revenue of $50.6 billion for the three months ending in March, a 13 percent decline over last year鈥檚 March quarter. Blaming the weak results at least partly on the 鈥渕acroeconomic environment鈥, Apple鈥檚 CEO Tim Cook remained positive on his company鈥檚 outlook, calling the downturn a 鈥減ause in our growth鈥. That pause will carry on for at least three more months though, as Apple鈥檚 guidance suggests a similar decline in revenue for the ongoing fiscal quarter.
Apple's Revenue Declines for the First Time in 13 Years

Description
This chart shows Apple's year-over-year revenue growth rate since fiscal year 2003.



















