“I think there are a heck of a lot of U.S. companies that have a lot of sales in China that are basically going to be watching their earnings be downgraded next year.”

Economic deceleration in China had caught Apple off guard and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing were starting to hurt consumer spending on smartphones in China, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on Wednesday. Apple on Wednesday lowered its forecast to US$84 billion in revenue for its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 29, below analysts' estimate of US$91.5 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Cook said Apple has lowered its revenue guidance to $84 billion for the upcoming quarter — a healthy decrease from the $89 billion to $93 billion the company had originally anticipated. EXCLUSIVE: After cutting Q1 expectations, Apple CEO Tim Cook tells CNBC that the shortfall is primarily in Greater China as trade tensions put pressure on the Chinese economy https://t.co/iOf79ebo17 pic.twitter.com/Lm7Wyp1VOX — CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) January 2, 2019

Per Cook’s letter, “Lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, accounts for all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline.” Cook notes that other divisions of Apple have actually risen by almost 19 percent year over year, but the truth remains that the iPhone has long been Apple’s core business, and if Apple can’t sell enough of them, the whole company struggles. Global financial markets felt the shockwaves as Apple shares logged their biggest intra-day percentage fall in six years, sending the company's stock market value to under $700 billion (554 billion pounds), well below its $1.1 trillion October peak. On Apple's earnings call in November, Cook cited slowing growth in emerging markets such as Brazil, India and Russia for the lower-than-anticipated sales estimates for the company`s fiscal first quarter. On Wednesday, China`s central bank magazine said the country`s economic growth could fall below 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter as companies face increased difficulties there. It also comes as the Trump administration and the Chinese are trying - without success - to resolve a simmering trade conflict that has already put nearly half of all Chinese exports to the United States under tariff.
American electronics maker Apple warns that iPhone sales are slowing significantly and the product is in weak demand, blaming trade tensions with China. The company says that it has lowered its expected fiscal earnings for the first quarter as a result, citing disappointing holiday sales figures, and that it could lose $9 billion due to the decline.