SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 Apple snapped out of a recent iPhone sales slump during its summer quarter, an early sign that its recent efforts to revive demand for its marquee product with an infusion of artificial intelligence are paying off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sales of the iPhone totaled $46.22 billion for the July-September period, a 6% increase from the same time last year, according to Apple\u2019s fiscal fourth-quarter report released Thursday. That improvement reversed two consecutive year-over-year declines<\/a> in the iPhone\u2019s quarterly sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The iPhone boost helped Apple deliver total quarterly revenue and profit that exceeded the analyst projections that sway investors, excluding a one-time charge of $10.2 billion to account for a recent European Union court decision<\/a> that lumped the Cupertino, California, company with a huge bill for back taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apple earned $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, a 36% decrease from the same time last year. If not for the one-time tax hit, Apple said it would have earned $1.64 per share \u2014 topping the $1.60 per share predicted by analysts, according to FactSet Research. Revenue rose 6% from last year to $94.93 billion, about $400 million more than analysts forecast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But investors evidently were hoping for an even better quarter and appeared disappointed by an Apple forecast that implied its revenue for the October-December quarter covering the holiday shopping season might not grow as robustly as analysts envisioned. Apple\u2019s stock price shed about 2% in Thursday\u2019s extended trading, leaving the shares hovering around $221 \u2014 well below their peak of about $237 reached in mid-October.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest quarterly results captured the first few days that consumers were able to buy a new iPhone 16 line-up<\/a> that included four different models designed to handle a variety of AI wizardry that the company is marketing as \u201cApple Intelligence.\u201d The branding is part of Apple\u2019s effort to distinguish its approach to AI from rivals such as Samsung<\/a> and Google<\/a> that got a head start on bringing the technology to smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n