Apple profits dip for first time in 10 years

Apple boss Tim Cook offered to raise dividends for shareholders as the tech giant reported its first quarterly drop in profits in a decade.

It made a net profit of $9.5bn (£6.2bn) in the January to March quarter, down from $11.6bn last year.

The results were blamed on stiff competition with rival Samsung which hurt the company’s share price.

Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones and 19.5 million iPads worldwide in the three-month period.

Apple’s chief executive said, “Though we’ve achieved a credible scale and financial success, we acknowledge that our growth rate has slowed and our margins have decreased from the exceptionally high level we experienced in 2012.”