Apple Profit Falls for First Time in 10 Years

**Editor’s Note:

Click here

for our look back at how some of the biggest names in telecommunications performed financially in Q4 2012.**

For the first time in a decade, Apple Inc. has reported a decline in profits.

The news comes as Apple faces increasing competition from Samsung, and from a perhaps-unexpected source: its own users who are holding on to their older model iPhones, cutting into sales of new devices.

To that point, Apple’s fiscal second-quarter net income fell to $9.5 billion, down from $11.6 billion a year ago — an 18 percent drop. Revenue, however, went up to $43.6 billion, from $39.2 billion. Wall Street analysts were projecting profit of $9.5 billion and $42.3 billion in revenue.

Despite the losses, Apple announced its board has approved a 15 percent increase in the quarterly dividend, which amounts to $3.05 per common share, payable on May 16.