Technology giant Apple today reported earnings for the quarter ended March 26, and for the first time in more than a decade, the company posted a year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue. This brings about an end to more than 50 straight quarters of growth since 2003, according to The Wall Street Journal.
For the period, Apple brought in $50.6 billion in revenue, compared to $58 billion during the same period last year. Profit was also down, coming in at $10.5 billion, compared to $13.6 billion last year. These are of course big, big numbers, and Apple is doing fine. However, the year-over-year downturn is notable since it happens so rarely.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that the company faced "strong macroeconomic headwinds" during the period, which attributed to the downturn.
The company sold 51.2 million iPhones during the quarter, compared to 74.8 million during the same period last year. GameSpot sister site CNET reports that this was the first time since the iPhone was introduced in 2007 that sales did not increase year-over-year.
iPad sales were hurting as well, coming in at 10.2 million this quarter, compared to 16.1 million during the same period last year. Additionally, Mac sales fell from 5.3 million units during the quarter last year to 4 million systems this year.
Cook told WSJ that this was a "challenging quarter," but said he is sure that Apple has happier days ahead.
"It's a tough bar to hurdle, but it doesn't change the future. The future is very bright," he said.
Apple is currently holding an earnings call to discuss these results and answer questions from analysts. Check back later for more. For now, you can read CNET's full story for more on Apple's latest earnings report.