Apple’s revenue in greater China tumbled by $4.8 billion in its fiscal Q1, accounting for more than 100 per cent of the company’s worldwide year-over-year sales decline in the quarter.

Greater China sales in the three months ending 31 December dropped 26.7 per cent year-on-year to $13.2 billion, with declines across the iPhone, Mac and iPad product lines.

CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call the macroeconomic conditions in China were significantly more severe than it originally foresaw.

Greater China accounted for 15.6 per cent of the company’s total revenue in the quarter, down from 20.3 per cent in the comparable period of 2017.

Cook pointed to the positives in China, where it generated record Services revenue during the quarter, fuelled by an ecosystem with more than 2.5 million registered iOS developers. Sales at its Wearables business increased 50 per cent year-on-year.

“Macroeconomic factors will come and go, but we see great upside in continuing to focus on the things that we can control,” he said.

Sales in Japan slid 4.5 per cent in the quarter to $6.91 billion, while revenue across the rest of Asia rose 1 per cent to $6.93 billion.

Globally, Apple generated revenue of $84.3 billion during the quarter, down 5 per cent year-on-year.