Apple Sales and Profit Miss Analysts’ Estimates

A lot of companies would love to have that problem — if it can be called a problem, given that Apple still managed to sell 28 percent more iPhones last quarter than it did a year earlier.

Yet in the world of outsize expectations that envelops Apple, it still contributed to a rare earnings disappointment from the company.

In response to the earnings report on Tuesday, Apple investors registered their unhappiness with the results by sending its shares down more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. In the regular session, the stock fell 2.9 percent, to $600.92.

The iPhone appeared to be the main issue. In a now-familiar pattern, analysts have been warning of potential weakness in iPhone sales because of the likelihood that the company would introduce a new version of the phone in the fall. Apple invariably brings out a new model around that time, and the anticipation can cause many phone shoppers to delay their purchases, leading to a surge in the holiday quarter.

In a conference call with analysts, Apple executives blamed economic weakness in Europe, Australia, Brazil and other countries for some of the shortfall in iPhone sales. But the company also said that the widespread chatter about whatever smartphone it will sell next was a significant factor.

“We’re reading the same rumors and speculation you are about a new iPhone,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer.

In the past, Apple has felt the pain of delayed iPhone purchases most acutely in the summer quarter that ends in late September, but it can also start before then. “We’re seeing it earlier than ever,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, who predicted Apple would sell 29 million iPhones, rather than the 26 million it ended up reporting.

It is possible Apple is losing some business to other smartphones, most likely devices running Google’s Android operating system, which have built a substantial following. But Apple is still expected to gain market share this year. Apple’s share among smartphone users in the United States is expected to reach 31 percent in 2012, up from 30 percent last year, according to eMarketer, a firm that compiles data from technology research firms.

Rob Cihra, an analyst at Evercore Partners, said the iPhone was increasingly evolving into a business that has two quarters of gigantic sales, followed by two weaker ones, in which customers wait patiently for a new model. But Mr. Cihra said it would be far more worrisome if customers did not show so much enthusiasm about Apple’s next move.

“That’s the price of having an incredibly popular consumer product,” he said.

Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said there was not much Apple could do about the phenomenon beyond trying to keep its plans secret. “I’m glad people want the next thing,” he said. “I’m not going to put any energy into trying to get people to stop speculating.”

The newest pillar of Apple’s business, the iPad, has started to take some of the pressure off the iPhone to dazzle investors every quarter. For the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, Apple said it sold 17 million iPads, bringing in revenue of $9.17 billion, compared with nine million iPads and $6.05 billion in revenue a year ago.

Those sales got a lift from a new version of the iPad with a higher-resolution display that Apple introduced in March. The iPad now accounts for 26 percent of Apple’s total revenue.

Mr. Cook added that Apple would release the latest version of its Mac operating system, Mountain Lion, on Wednesday.

Apple reported net income of $8.82 billion, or $9.32 a share, up from $7.31 billion, or $7.79 a share, in the period a year earlier. Revenue was $35.02 billion compared with $28.57 billion a year earlier.

The figures were above the $8.68 a share in profit and $34 billion in revenue that Apple had previously forecast for the quarter. But they fell well short of the estimates of Wall Street analysts, who typically take Apple’s own forecasts with a grain of salt because of the company’s long history of underpromising and overdelivering on its financial performance.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected Apple to report earnings of $10.36 a share and $37.18 billion in revenue.

But even the growth of the iPad still has not come close to dislodging the iPhone’s importance to Apple. It accounted for 46 percent of the company’s revenue in the quarter, and, according to Mr. Cihra’s estimates, about 60 percent of its profits.

Apple said it expects to report overall revenue of about $34 billion and earnings of $7.65 a share for the current quarter.