Apple's quarterly sales fall, but forecast calls for gains

Apple says it sold 45.5 million iPhones in the last quarter, 5 percent fewer than it sold a year earlier. But the giant tech company's rosy forecast for the holidays was better than what Wall Street had been expecting.

Apple reported Tuesday that its revenue declined 9 percent to $46.8 billion for the quarter that ended last month. Profit fell 19 percent to $9 billion.

The results are a reflection of lukewarm interest in last year's iPhone models. Apple released two new models, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, just two weeks before the quarter ended.

Apple is forecasting a return to sales growth in the three months ending December, after three quarterly declines. Analysts say that's a good indicator for 2017. The holiday quarter is traditionally Apple's biggest.