A slump in China’s smartphone market is weighing on Apple Inc.’s growth, even as the country remains a relatively bright spot for the iPhone maker. As WSJ's Eva Dou and Daisuke Wakabayashi report:

Chief Executive Tim Cook said on an earnings call Tuesday that Apple has begun to see “signs of economic softness” in the Greater China region, which includes China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Apple’s sales in the region grew 14% in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 26 to $18.4 billion, better than any other region during the period, but far from the 70% growth it saw in the year-earlier period. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 26, Greater China sales had surged 84%, with profits growing even faster.

Keeping up this momentum will be a challenge for Apple this year, with China’s smartphone market slowing and the country’s economy cooling. China’s economic growth in 2015 was the slowest in a quarter century.

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