Tech giant Apple’s profit fell 7% in the fourth quarter, the company said in its earnings release on Thursday, AFP reported. It made a profit of $12.7 billion in the recently ended quarter, it said.

Although its total revenue edged up from last year’s level to $64.7 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, revenue from iPhone sales — the major income driver for Apple — slid some 20% from a year ago, unsettling investors.

The company’s share price nosedived more than 4% in after-hours trading.

“Apple capped off a fiscal year defined by innovation in the face of adversity with a September quarter record, led by all-time records for Mac and Services,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement, AFP reported.

The California tech giant launched this month, its new iPhone 12 models. They include some tailored for ultra-fast 5G networks.

The early response to the company’s first 5G-enabled iPhone lineup has been “tremendously positive,” Cook said in his statement.

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However, the sale of iPhones is extremely important for the company as “everything is tied to that,” analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy told AFP. 

“iPhone is the cash cow and the driver of pretty much every add-on service Apple has out there,” the analyst said.

Apple has made a priority of selling apps, games, subscriptions and music to iPhone users in recent years to break its dependence on handset sales.

From Apple TV and the App Store to Apple Watch and AirPod earbuds, the company’s other offerings are aimed at iPhone users, Moorhead noted.

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“I expect Apple in the next quarter to have a nice big surge due to the new models, and also the financing or new phones with monthly plans,” he added.