Apple profits slide despite 26 pc increase in revenue boosted by iPhone sales

Apple has reportedly seen a decline in its profits despite boosted sales of iPhones.

The tech giant reported a fourth quarter profit of 7.5 billion dollars, more than market expectations, but its net profit slid to 37 billion dollars, its first earnings decline in 11 years.

According to the BBC, Apple iPhone sales surged 26 percent to 33.8 million units, yet the profits slid for a third consecutive quarter as margins fell.

The company said that it expected its revenue next year to be somewhere between 55 - 58billion dollars.

It further revealed that the gross margin on its products would be between 36.5 percent 37.5 percent, less than what analysts were expecting.

Evan Niu of the financial website The Motley Fool said that this is a transitional quarter for Apple with its new products hitting the shelves adding that the coming quarter will be the real test.

Apple recently launched its iPhone 5S and its cheaper version iPhone5C, meant to appeal to the Chinese market and revenue in the region rose 24 percent, but the tech giant did not break out sales figures for the iPhone 5C.

The tech giant has revealed that 9 million new iPhones were sold in the first weekend of availability, the report added.