03/05/2017 World Business Report

Apple reports a surprise fall in iPhone sales as customers wait

We talk you through the tech giants latest numbers.

And as the French prepare to make their choice on Sunday,

we look at the contentious issue of immigration.

Also in the programme, the impact of Trumps visa review -

Infosys says it will hire 10,000 Americans.

But first, Apple is the world's most valuable company and it made another

huge profit in the first three months of the year.

The California based firm sold just under $53 billion worth

of products as it continues to dominate the smartphone market.

But surprisingly iPhone sales actually fell by 1% -

mainly because customers are holding off purchases while waiting

for the 10th anniversary model expected this autumn.

They still sold over 50 million of them though and more

of their expensive seven plus smartphone.

Apple shares were down 2% in after hours trading

but that is a mere blip if we look at the stock's long-term

five years and hit a record high of $147.51 just ahead

of this trading update, making the company worth a whopping

Over the last year alone there's been an increase of more than 60%

this is partly because during that time iphone sales have gone up.

But also because investors are betting if Apple brings back

to the US its huge cash reserve that now tops 250 billion dollars -

iPhones are of course Apple's best-selling product,

but services are the second biggest part of the business.

That includes App Store downloads, Apple Pay and Apple Music,

and they are now worth 13% of total revenues.

With me is Nicholas Oliver, founder, people.io.

Good morning. Just because of the sheer size of Apple, all of those

numbers sound impressive. What is your take on how they are doing?

People are talking about everyone waiting to get the new iPhone later

in the year, but if you were to speak to a friend about the latest

version of the iPhone, it is missing a headphone jack. That in itself may

be putting people off purchasing the phone right now. Whether they are

waiting for later versions or replacing it with the current

version is a question to be asked. Apple need to find their way in

revolutionising the industry. There is talk of Apple going out and

purchasing other tech companies, we have already seen delays in the

introduction of Carpool Karaoke, so I wonder where they will be making

their name in the innovation space. That has been a problem for a while

now, with Apple. We keep talking about the next big thing but we have

not had that for a long time. The iPhone has become the bread and

butter. How long can they be in that place for when other companies are

really stepping forward? I think you are absolutely right. Looking at

Nokia, there was a smart phone revolution several years ago. Now we

are seeing companies like Amazon and the like, that could perhaps be a

driving force in where they need to go. They obviously have a huge

amount of data from a huge amount of customers, but what are they going

to do with that in terms of their customers? If you were to bring back

the profits to the United States, what are they likely to do with

their shares? They are talking about a share buyback, share dividends are

not sort of thing. Will they plough back into some sort of great new

idea? You could do a lot with that kind of money. You certainly could.

I think my personal view would be that perhaps they are going to need

to look at an acquisition. That is going to help drive direction. The

tax implications and benefits associated would play a role in that

decision. They need to look at how the cash is going to let them move

in a slightly more innovative direction, beyond what everyone

already knows. What will we be saying about them in a year's time?

IPhone sales dipping? I hope we are not talking about the iPhone as much

as everyone is now! Now, an Indian IT firm says it

will go on a hiring spree in the US. Rico Hizon in Singapore

will tell us what's going on. What is going on? It is a jobs

bonanza from Infosys technologies, they will be opening for Mac

technology centres in America over the next two years, employing 10,000

people. This comes as Indian technology conglomerates are facing

criticism over hiring low paid workers on temporary visas -- four.

Many of them rely on a visa which Donald Trump has told federal

agencies to review. Infosys did not give specifics on jobs, but it did

say it would seek experienced candidates from colleges. We will

know soon. Vienna is the home state of Mike Pence, and analysts say that

more hirings would push up costs for Indian IT firms. Politicians,

lawmakers and officials from the Donald Trump administration have

also said they may not make dramatic changes to these these rules. --

these visa rules. France goes to the polls on Sunday

in a tightly contested In these final days of campaigning

immigration policy has increasingly ominated the airwaves,

but as Theo Leggett reports, immigration

is integral to many parts This town is a melting pot of

different races and cultures, the results of more than a century of

continuous immigration. This building tells a story about how the

effects of immigration are woven into the fabric of this town.

Immigrants built it in the 1930s and it housed the families of other

immigrants who came here, attracted by industry and the need for

manpower. The history of migrants is categorised at a local cultural

centre. The first arrivals came in the textiles industry. More

recently, newcomers have been refugees. We have welcomed a number

of people from the Calais jungle. Mostly people from East Africa and

Afghanistan. We are working on thinking of a better way to welcome

these people and to face the economic, social and political

challenges that raises. Immigration has become a central issue in the

election campaign. It divides opinion. I don't know whether we

need more immigrants, but we have room for many more. There are too

many immigrants. It would be great for the country to have more

immigrants. Life is not always easy for emigrates. Teaching a group of

people to speak French, they arrived in the country decades ago. Now

retired, many live in poverty and struggled to cope -- immigrants.

Life is not easy, they have been here for 50 years, and now they are

just trying to survive. Whoever wins the election will have to face the

question of what to do at that future migration, and also the

social and economic questions raised by past generations of foreign

workers. In other news: Italy's troubled

flagship airline Alitalia has gone into administration

after the Italian government The company said its flight schedule

would continue to operate as planned, while administrators

examine whether the firm can Alitalia has received more than 7bn

euros from the Italian state over That is the World Business Report.

Most of the markets in Asia are closed. I will see you