Apple forecasts first sales drop since 2003

San Francisco

APPLE Inc is forecasting a sales decline for the first time in more than a decade, adding to evidence the market for smartphones is becoming saturated and that expansion in China is no longer enough to maintain its unprecedented run of growth.

Revenue in the first three months of the year will be US$50 billion to US$53 billion, Apple said on Tuesday, the first quarterly drop since 2003 and below analysts' estimates for US$55.5 billion.