Apple is forecasting a return to revenue growth in the run-up to Christmas, after reporting a 9 per cent decline in sales during its fiscal fourth quarter.

苹果(Apple)预计圣诞节前公司利润将恢复增长。在第四财季，苹果营收减少了9%。

As expected, Apple posted its first decline in annual revenues for more than a decade as demand for the iPhone 6S failed to match its blockbuster predecessor. Sales for fiscal 2016 were down 8 per cent to $215.6bn.

正如预期那样，苹果iPhone 6S的需求比不上前款火爆手机，导致年营收在10多年来首次下降。2016财年销售额下降了8%，至2156亿美元。

The world’s most valuable company sold 45.5m iPhones in the three months to September 24, down 5 per cent on a year ago but broadly meeting analysts’ predictions. Profits fell 19 per cent in the fourth quarter to $9bn.

在截至9月24日的3个月，这家全球最高市值公司卖出了4550万部iPhone，同比下降了5%，但大体符合分析师的预期。第四财季苹果的利润下降了19%，至90亿美元。

For the December quarter, which is typically Apple’s most lucrative, the company is forecasting sales of $76bn-$78bn, at least 1 per cent up on the same period a year ago. Alongside strong demand for the new iPhone 7, Apple is benefiting from rapid growth in its services business, which includes the App Store and Apple Music.

对于12月所在的当前财季——这通常是苹果利润最多的季度——该公司预计销售额为760亿至780亿美元，至少比去年同期增长1%。 除了新上市iPhone 7需求强劲，苹果也正得益于其服务业务（包括应用商店(App Store)和苹果音乐(Apple Music)）的快速增长。

Revenues from services increased 24 per cent to $6.3bn in the fourth quarter, making it Apple’s second-largest source of income after the iPhone amid another sluggish performance by the Mac and iPad.

在第四财季，苹果服务收入增长了24%，达到63亿美元，成为排在iPhone之后的第二大收入来源。同时，Mac和iPad的销售很低迷。

Apple is seen as benefiting from the popularity of Pokémon Go, which quickly attracted 500m downloads after its release this summer. Apple finance chief Luca Maestri said App Store revenues were up in the “strong double digits” and Pokémon Go was “just one element of that”. Apple’s music revenues grew 22 per cent.

人们认为，苹果正受益于《口袋妖怪Go》(Pokémon Go)的流行，此游戏在今夏发布后，迅速吸引到5亿的下载量。苹果首席财务官卢卡.马埃斯特里(Luca Maestri)表示，应用商店的收入实现了“两位数的强劲增长”，而《口袋妖怪Go》“只是推动因素之一”。 苹果的音乐收入增长了22%。

He said that customers’ initial response to the iPhone 7, “bodes well as we get into the December quarter”. Supplies of the shiny “Jet Black” model are still lagging behind demand, he said, with the larger iPhone 7 Plus proving particularly popular.

马埃斯特里说，“进入12月这个财季后”，客户对iPhone 7的初步反应“是个好兆头”。他说，亮黑色(Jet Black)iPhone 7仍供不应求，而更大的iPhone 7 Plus特别受欢迎。

Supply shortages made it hard to gauge the impact from Samsung’s withdrawal of its Galaxy Note 7, he said, while adding that Apple was seeing record numbers of people switching from Android to iPhone.

他说，供应短缺使三星召回Galaxy Note 7的影响变得难以评估。他补充道，苹果公司看到从安卓(Android)手机转向iPhone的人数创下了记录。

Wall Street investors are struggling to predict whether the iPhone will return to growth over the full year. Apple does not give guidance more than one quarter ahead but Mr Maestri said: “What we are seeing right now makes us very optimistic for the rest of the year.”

华尔街投资者正在努力预测，iPhone是否会恢复全财年增长。苹果并未给出一个财季之外的指引，但马埃斯特里说：“我们现在看到的情况，让我们对今年余下的时间段非常乐观。”

Mr Maestri also defended Apple’s performance in China, where revenues fell 30 per cent year on year in the quarter and 17 per cent for the full year. He said that the popularity of the iPhone 6 two years ago made for a “very difficult compare”.

马埃斯特里还为苹果在中国的业绩做了辩护。第四财季，苹果在中国的营收同比下降了30%，整个财年同比下降了17%。