Apple cites China sales in forecast revenue fall

Apple Inc lowered its revenue forecast for the first time in almost two decades, amid fewer upgrades to its flagship iPhone and weak performance in China as it faces rising competition from Huawei Technologies Co.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said in a letter to investors that the US tech giant slashed its revenue guidance to $84 billion for the quarter ended Dec 29, down from earlier estimates of $89 billion to $93 billion.

The new forecast is lower than the California-based company's sales of $88.3 billion a year ago, marking its first holiday quarter slowdown since Cook became CEO in 2011.