Reuters :
Apple Inc on Thursday forecast bigger problems as COVID-19 lockdowns snarl production and demand in China, the war in Ukraine dents sales and growth slows in services, which the iPhone maker sees as its engine for expansion.
Shares were down 2.2% in late trade after executives laid out their glum outlook on a conference call. The news outweighed record profit and sales for Apple’s fiscal second quarter, which ended in March.
Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri warned in an interview that the war in Ukraine, which led Apple to stop sales in Russia, would cut sales more deeply in the fiscal third quarter.
He told analysts on the call that supply-chain issues would hurt sales in the quarter by $4 billion to $8 billion, “substantially larger” than the hit in the second quarter.
Supply problems were focused on a corridor in Shanghai, China and reflected COVID disruptions and chip shortages, he added. The pandemic was also affecting demand in China, he said.
