Apple has reported a second consecutive¹ quarter of falling iPhone sales, but the 15% drop was not as bad as analysts² had feared.

苹果发布报告称，iPhone的销售量已连续两个财季下滑，但下降15%这一数字倒不像分析师们担心的那么糟糕。

The US tech giant sold 40.4 million iPhones in its third quarter, slightly above forecasts of 40.02 million. Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the results reflected "stronger customer demand... than we anticipated".

这家美国科技巨头在第三财季销售了4040万部苹果iPhone手机，略高于预估的4002万部。苹果首席执行官蒂姆·库克表示，这个结果反映了“比预想中更强的客户需求”。

The firm said it expected sales to fall again in the fourth quarter to between $45.5bn and $47.5bn.

该公司表示，预计第四财季销售额还会下降，大约在455亿美元和475亿美元之间。

The iPhone makes up for around two-thirds of Apple's sales and accounts for even more of its profits. The slowdown in iPhone sales sent profit down 27% in the three months to 25 June, while revenues fell 14.6% to $42.4bn.

苹果公司三分之二的销售量来自iPhone手机，而它带来的利润占据着更高的份额。苹果手机销售量的下降，使6月25号之前三个月的利润下降了27%，收入下跌14.6%，营收为424亿美元。

Apple's sales in Greater China - defined by the company as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan - plunged³ 33%. China accounts for almost a quarter of Apple's sales, more than all of Europe combined.

苹果在大中华区（由公司定义，包括中国、香港和台湾）的销售额下降了33%。其中中国大陆市场占据苹果销售额的四分之一，超过整个欧洲的总和。

"It is very clear that there are some signs of economic slowdown in China, and we will have to work through them. We understand China well and we remain very, very optimistic about the future there," said Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri.

苹果首席财务官卢卡·梅斯特里表示：“显然有一些迹象表明中国的经济有下滑，我们必须要处理好。我们了解中国，我们对于那里的市场仍然非常非常看好，”

Nonetheless, shares, which have fallen almost 20% over the past year, rose over 7% in after-hours trading because the firm's overall performance was not as bad as analysts had expected.

尽管现在的情况如此，在过去一年下跌将近20%的苹果股价，在最近几个小时的交易中上涨了7%，这是因为公司的整体业绩并不像分析师预期的那样糟糕。

Mr Maestri pointed⁴ to its services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud and other services, as a bright spot. The division made nearly $6bn in revenue, up 18.9% from the same time last year, and is now the firm's second-largest sales generator⁵ after the iPhone.

梅斯特里指出，苹果的服务业务，包括应用商店，苹果支付，苹果云存储和其他服务是亮点。该部分的业务创造了6亿美元的收入，与去年同期相比上升18.9%，现在已成为苹果公司仅次于iPhone手机的第二大销售来源。

The shift is good news for the firm because it allows it to make more money from its existing users.

能从现有的用户那里赚取更多的钱，这样的转变对公司无疑是个很棒的消息。