And it's been confirmed that Apple's quarterly revenue was held back by falling sales of its iPhones and weakness in China.

據證實，蘋果公司的季度營收因 iPhone 銷量下滑和中國市場疲軟而受阻。

But the company's stock was higher in extended trading after a huge share buyback announcement and dividend increase.

但在宣布大規模股票回購和增加股利後，該公司股價在盤後交易中走高。

Our North America business correspondent Michelle Fleury has the details.

我們的北美商業記者 Michelle Fleury 為您提供詳細消息。

Apple faces a raft of challenges when it comes to its single most important product, the iPhone.

蘋果在其最重要的產品 iPhone 上面臨著一系列挑戰。

Sales dropped 10%.

銷售額下降了 10%。

Competition is getting stiffer.

競爭越來越激烈。

Samsung, for example, took the lead in global sales for the first three months of the year.

例如，三星在今年前三個月的全球銷售額遙遙領先。

As for Apple's third largest region, greater China, sales were down 8%.

至於蘋果的第三大地區——大中華地區，銷售額下降了 8%。

However, that was better than expected and it went some way towards calming investors' fears that Apple is losing market share to Chinese phone maker Huawei.

不過，這一業績好於預期，在一定程度上平息了投資者對蘋果市場份額被中國手機制造商華為搶走的擔憂。

During the quarter, Apple released its first new major product in years, the Vision Pro.

在本季度，蘋果發佈了多年來第一款新的主要產品 Vision Pro。

But the high-priced virtual reality headset is only selling in small numbers at the moment.

但這款高價虛擬現實頭盔目前只在少量銷售。

On the service side, well, that is the rare bright spot for the business.

在服務方面，這也是該企業難得的亮點。

Given the challenges that Apple faces right now, the company was keen to look ahead.

鑑於蘋果公司目前面臨的挑戰，該公司熱衷於展望未來。

The tech giant, which hasn't released a new iPad since 2022, was scheduled to release a new model next week.

這家科技巨頭自 2022 年以來就沒有發佈過新款 iPad，原計劃下週發佈一款新機型。

CEO Tim Cook said Apple has big plans to announce from an AI point of view during its iPad event.

CEO 提姆・庫克表示，蘋果將在 iPad 發佈會上宣佈 AI 方面的重大計劃。

That, as well as the company's annual developer conference in June, all spell some sort of big news on the AI front.

這一切，以及該公司六月舉行的年度開發者大會，都預示著 AI 領域的一些重大新聞。

And the potential of that, as well as the announcement of the biggest share buyback in the company's history, appeared to satisfy investors.

這一潛力以及公司歷史上最大規模股票回購的宣布似乎令投資者感到滿意。

The tech giant's share price rose on the news.

這家科技巨頭的股價聞訊上漲。

It certainly did.

的確如此。

Shares of Apple were already up 2% before the earnings report and then jumped 6% in after-hours training.

財報發佈前，蘋果股價已上漲 2%，盤後大漲 6%。

Let's discuss this now with Martin Bacadax, the London Bureau Chief of the Street.

現在讓我們與《華爾街日報》倫敦分社社長 Martin Bacadax 討論這個問題。

So, Martin, the markets liked what they heard.

所以，馬丁，市場喜歡他們聽到的。

Yeah, they absolutely did.

絕對是的。

I have to say, I think it's that share buyback that's driving the bulk of the movement that we're seeing after hours.

我不得不說，我認為是股票回購推動了盤後的大部分走勢。

It's probably about 4% of the 6% increase we're seeing, and I'm sure that's the most important factor.

這可能是我們看到的 6% 增長中的 4%，我相信這是最重要的因素。

But nonetheless, I think the numbers were just not as bad as investors had feared, particularly in China, but also in other parts of the world as well.

儘管如此，我認為這些數字並沒有投資者擔心的那麼糟糕，尤其是在中國，但在世界其他地區也是如此。

And Apple has bought a lot of faith, I think, from investors over time, and they're willing to give them a little bit of wiggle room into May and then into June for that developers conference, when they will map out their AI strategy.

我認為，隨著時間的推移，蘋果已經從投資者那裡贏得了很多信任，他們願意在 5 月和 6 月的開發者大會上給蘋果一點回旋的餘地，屆時他們將制定自己的 AI 策略。

And that will ultimately be the most important component for the company going forward.

而這最終將成為公司未來最重要的組成部分。

I want to discuss AI with you in a moment, Martin, but Microsoft is now the world's most valuable company, and Samsung, the top smartphone seller.

馬丁，我一會兒想和你討論一下 AI，但微軟現在是全球最有價值的公司，而三星則是智慧手機銷量第一的公司。

And I've been reading your writing.

我一直在讀你的文章。

So why do you still say Apple is the most important stock in the stock market still?

那你為什麼還說蘋果公司是股市中最重要的股票呢？

What about Nvidia, for example?

例如，Nvidia 公司的情況如何？

No, it's a great question, and I think, and there's been a lot of debate about it.

這是一個很好的問題，我認為，關於這個問題已經有了很多爭論。

I think Nvidia has captured a zeitgeist over the past year or so with respect to its AI ambitions and its chip making.

我認為，在過去一年左右的時間裡，Nvidia 在 AI 野心和晶片製造方面抓住了時代的潮流。

But for the most part, Nvidia really only sells to a handful of companies, and they're mostly these megatech sort of Microsoft and Tesla and others.

但在大多數情況下，Nvidia 其實只賣給少數幾家公司，而且大多是微軟、特斯拉等巨頭公司。

Apple has its tentacles across the whole of the global supply chain from a technology point of view.

從技術角度看，蘋果公司的觸角遍及整個全球供應鏈。

It also gives you a wonderful read on the consumer as well and his or her abilities to trade up to these expensive handsets.

此外，它還能讓你對消費者以及他們換購這些昂貴手機的能力有一個很好的瞭解。

And of course, there's a political dimension to Apple's not only profits, but revenues as well, given its presence in China and in other markets around the world.

當然，鑑於蘋果公司在中國和全球其他市場的存在，其利潤和收入也有政治層面的影響。

It's a widely held stock.

這是一種被廣泛持有的股票。

It's in the major benchmarks, and it's one that we look to on almost a daily basis to understand the sort of the mood of the market, if you will.

它是主要的基準之一，我們幾乎每天都要通過它來了解市場的情緒。

So I'm still firmly convinced that Apple is the most important stock.

我仍然堅信蘋果是最重要的股票。

But there are companies that are absolutely giving it its head.

但是，也有一些公司絕對會給它當頭一棒。

OK. I mean, it's got it's got a lot of fingers in lots of pies.

好的，我的意思是，它在很多方面都有涉獵。

I'm going to refrain from asking you if it's bitten off more than it can chew.

我不打算問你它是否不自量力。

But let's turn to the elephant in the room, which is its AI strategy.

不過，讓我們來看看重要的議題，也就蘋果的 AI 策略。

We're looking at the iPhone 16 coming out, we're looking at its iOS 18 operating system, a lot resting on what it can bring to drive sales there and get people to change their phones.

我們正在關注即將上市的 iPhone 16，我們正在關注 iOS 18 作業系統，它能帶來很多東西來推動銷售，讓人們更換手機。

They keep holding on to their iPhones for longer now.

大眾現在使用 iPhone 的時間更長了。

They really do.

確實是這樣。

I think there's been a lack of sort of a compelling reason to upgrade in the last two or three cycles.

我認為，在過去的兩三個週期中，一直缺乏令人信服的升級換手機的理由。

And that really has been a headwind for Apple sales.

這對蘋果的銷售確實是一個不利因素。

But what we've seen with Samsung, for instance, is that they are noting a significant reason for upgrades that is linked to the AI capability.

但我們從三星等公司身上看到的是，他們注意到升級的一個重要原因與 AI 功能有關。

Customers are telling them that that's a big reason why they're able to pay these ever higher prices because of what the functionality can bring and the way that it changes the dynamism of the phone itself.

顧客告訴他們，這正是他們能夠支付這些不斷上漲價格的重要原因，因為這種功能所帶來的變化以及它如何改變了手機本身的動態性。

So I think Apple, if they are able to do that, they will absolutely get a tailwind into this replacement cycle going into the autumn.

所以我認為，如果蘋果公司能夠做到這一點，那麼在進入秋季的換機週期中，他們絕對會獲得順風。

But of course, a lot is going to depend on what that functionality is.

當然，這在很大程度上取決於該功能是什麼。

Apple's not saying much, but what they are saying is that they're going to focus on data security and privacy.

蘋果公司沒有多說什麼，但他們表示將重點關注數據安全和隱私。

That's worked very well for Apple in the past.

這在過去對蘋果公司來說非常有效。

And given the concerns that many people have with regards to the way that they interact with AI and how that information will be used, I think Apple's probably striking the right note here.

考慮到許多人對與 AI 互動的方式以及如何使用這些資訊的擔憂，我認為蘋果這樣的決定可能是正確的。

Very interesting.

非常有趣。

Martin Bakkadax from the Street, London Bureau Chief of the Street.

Martin Bakkadax 是《華爾街日報》倫敦分社社長。

Thanks for joining us.

感謝你的參與。