Apple's management amplified those concerns with a revenue forecast of $43 billion for the current quarter ending in late March, falling about $3 billion below analysts' predictions.
The company's projection also raised the unsettling specter of Apple's quarter revenue declining from the prior year for the first time in more than a decade. It last happened during the opening three months of 2003.
Apple's stock shed $44.50, or 8 percent, to $506 in extended trading following the release of the earnings report.
