At the end of 2022, Apple sales decreased as consumers made fewer purchases as a result of the growing cost of living.
When compared to the same period in 2021, sales at the world's largest iPhone manufacturer decreased by 5% in the third quarter.
It was worse than anticipated and was the greatest fall since 2019.
The update came as other businesses issued warnings about a sudden slowdown in the economy, particularly in the tech industry, which experienced a surge during the pandemic.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, stated that the company was operating in a "difficult environment."
He attributed the drop in sales to supply difficulties brought on by the Covid-19 disruption in China, where the company's phones are made, and a high currency, as well as broader economic instability brought on by rising costs, the conflict in Ukraine, and persistent trade tensions.
On a conference call with investors, he stated, "We know Apple is not immune to it as the globe continues to face unprecedented conditions.
According to Apple, the global sales decreases affected the majority of its goods.
Sales of its well-known iPhones decreased by over 8%, and those of Mac computers fell by 29%.
The decreases hurt the company's profitability, which dropped 13% to $30 billion (£24 billion).
According to Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight, the company, like many manufacturers of electronic devices, finds it difficult to convince customers to upgrade given "what are regarded to be modest improvements on earlier versions."
More so, he continued, "when everyone is tightening their belts."
According to market research firm Canalys, the number of smartphones supplied globally decreased by 12% in 2016.
In light of the fact that there are currently more than 2 billion active Apple devices worldwide, Apple executives stated that they anticipated their services division, which includes Apple Pay and Apple News, to continue to drive development.
Chief financial officer Luca Maestri said, "When we look at the behaviour of our installed base, we think it's quite positive.
In reports to investors, several significant IT businesses also mentioned feeling under pressure.
Amazon, which has been working hard to revive its e-commerce division, reported that sales at its online stores fell 2% in the last three months of 2022 compared to the same period the previous year.
Overall, Amazon's three-month sales increased 9% to $149.2 billion (£121 billion), helped by its cloud computing division's higher growth.
However, from $14.3 billion (£11 billion) a year earlier, its profits fell precipitously to almost nothing. Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky warned investors that this trend was expected to persist in the months to come.
Sales at Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, increased just 1% in the three months ending in December compared to the same period in 2021 as businesses reduced spending on advertising, the company's primary source of income, in response to the uncertain economic climate.
