SAN FRANCISCO: Apple raised the specter of the end of a technological era after reporting Tuesday the slowest growth sales ever of its market-leading, life-changing iPhone and warning it expects worse to come.

The California technology colossus said it expects to see its first decline in iPhone sales in the current quarter, when it will be compared to three months of blockbuster sales in the same period last year.

“We do think that iPhone units will decline in the quarter,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said during an earnings call with analysts.

But Apple, which Tuesday posted record quarterly profit despite the iPhone faltering for the first time since it was launched, remains optimistic about the overall smartphone market.

Apple plans to continue investing in smartphones despite economic woes dragging on many countries, and a strong US dollar eating into its revenue, according to Cook.

“There are still a lot of people in the world who will buy smartphones and we ought to be able to win over our fair share of those,” Cook said.