After setting iPhone record, Apple forecasts rare sales drop

AP logo
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
FILE: A woman press an Apple iPhone 6s on a 3D touch table at the Apple store Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, in San Francisco.
FILE: A woman press an Apple iPhone 6s on a 3D touch table at the Apple store Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, in San Francisco.
kgo-AP Photo/Eric Risberg

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple is bracing for its first sales decline in 13 years, despite selling a record 74.8 million iPhones in the final three months of 2015.

The giant tech company issued a sales forecast that says revenue could fall at least 8.6 percent during the January-March quarter, compared with a year earlier. Analysts say the latest iPhone models are selling reasonably well, but they're not providing the boost Apple needs to match the massive sales growth it enjoyed last year.

READ MORE: Apple's iPhone success may be reaching its peak

The company inched past its previous record, established when it sold 74.5 million iPhones in the holiday quarter of 2014. But its forecast implies Apple doesn't expect to match the 61 million iPhones sold in last year's January-March quarter.

Apple counts on the iPhone for two-thirds of its revenue.