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Apple gives weak forecast, sending shares down 8 percent


    (Reuters) - Apple Inc forecast fourth-quarter revenue below estimates, sending its shares down 8 percent in after-hours trading, despite reporting strong iPhone sales.

    The company forecast revenue of $49 billion-$51 billion, missing the analyst average estimate of $51.13 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    The world's largest publicly traded company by market value said it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago, but down 22 percent from the 61.2 million phones it sold in the second quarter.

    The company's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which shattered iPhone sales records when it launched, are already 10 months old.

    Sales in China more than doubled to $13.23 billion from a year earlier, the company said.

    APPLE (AAPL.NQ)had a troubled Tuesday, with its App Store, Apple Music, iTunes Store and some other services suffering disruption for more than three hours.

    The company said net income rose to $10.68 billion, or $1.85 per share, from $7.75 billion, in the third quarter ended June 27, or $1.28 per share, a year earlier.

    Analysts had expected earnings of $1.81 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    Revenue rose 32.5 percent to $49.61 billion from a year earlier, beating Wall Street's expectations of $49.43 billion.

    (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru and Julia Love in San Francisco; Editing by Simon Jennings)