Apple records decline in Q2 revenue in China as rivals take bigger bite

A customer is trying a new red iPhone 7 in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, March 25, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Apple Inc reported fall in revenue in China in its latest quarter earnings report amid increased competition from local rivals.

During the fiscal second quarter ended April 1, revenue from the Greater China region fell 14.1 percent year on year to $10.73 billion, compared with $16.23 billion in the previous quarter.

"First-half revenue was down 13 percent year-over-year, about a third of which was attributable to FX (foreign exchange)," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a conference call with analysts.

During the second quarter, China's currency devalued five percent, Cook said, adding that that's "not an insignificant headwind."

Cook also said that seven out of 10 of Apple's "most trafficked" stores are in "Greater China," which includes China's Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Apple has faced growing challenge from local smartphone vendors, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.

During the first three months of this year, four of the top five best-selling smartphone brands in China all came from local smartphone vendors, except for Apple, which came at fourth spot, according to figures released by mobile data provider Jiguang.

The Cupertino, California-based company sold 50.76 million iPhones in the fiscal second quarter, down from 51.19 million a year earlier and 78.29 million the previous quarter.

Revenue rose 4.6 percent to $52.9 billion in the quarter. The company's net income rose to $11.03 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with $10.52 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier.

Sales in the company's services business - which includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud - jumped 17.5 percent to $7.04 billion.

Shares of Apple, which had traded at all-time highs ahead of the earnings report, were down about 2 percent at $144.55 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Agencies contributed to this story.