It has often been regarded as the best-performing brand of the modern era, but technology giant Apple tonight reported its first proft slide in a decade.

In its second quarter results, the company posted profits of £6.27 billion (9.56 billion US dollars) down £1.38 billion (2.1 billion US dollars) from the same time last year.

The change in Apple's fortunes is being attributed to increasing competition and reports of a slowdown in sales of its iPhone and suggestions that the company has lost crucial ground to rivals such as Samsung.

However, Apple still sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to 35.1 million for the same period a year ago, and 19.5 million iPads compared to 11.8 million.

Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive officer said: "We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad.

"Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline."

But just last week, Apple lost its position as the world's most valuable publicly traded company when its shares hit their lowest levels in a year-and-a-half.

This came after one of the firm's suppliers - Cirrus Logic which provides sound components for the iPhone and iPad - said sales of a particular chip were slowing down.

"Our cash generation remains very strong, with 12.5 billion dollars (£8.2 billion) in cash flow from operations during the quarter and an ending cash balance of 145 billion dollars (£95.2 billion) ," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer.

The company has enjoyed huge success during the past decade with its innovation and groundbreaking branding and customer loyalty.

But Apple suffered a bruising winter after its growth began to stall. This led to speculation that demand for its flagship phones was shrinking and accusations that Apple was running out of ideas.

The firm was dealt a further blow in January when figures for the Christmas period showed earnings of £8.2 billion (then 13.1 billion US dollars) remained flat compared to the year before - the first time in years that the technology giant had not boasted double-digit increases in earnings.

More recently, Apple has faced pressure from investors calling for new hit products, and mounting competition from Samsung which unveiled its latest Galaxy S4 handset to much fanfare in New York last month.

Analysts reacted to the figures by saying the tech giant needed to rediscover its innovative touch to arrest the slide in profits.

However, other industry experts pointed out that the results reflected the fact that there were no major Apple launches during the most recent quarter and that it had been a quiet period.

Jan Dawson, an analyst at research firm Ovum, said Apple had beaten financial analysts' estimates and its own guidance - something which could cause it problems in the long term.

"In some ways, beating guidance was the worst thing Apple could have done, after it had said last quarter that it would provide more realistic guidance and aim to hit rather than beat it," she said.

"A large part of the problem with Apple's share price is that it has trained analysts to expect two things: ever-increasing revenues and profits, and that it will beat its own guidance consistently. This quarter illustrated that expecting revenues and margins to continue to grow is unrealistic, but also undermined its promise to provide more realistic guidance.

"While beating guidance is a positive thing in its own right, it is likely to lead to continued overheated estimates from analysts, which is not in Apple's longer-term interest."

She added: "One of the other issues for Apple is seasonality in its results, which spike hugely in the fourth quarter of the year and then drop off for the rest of the year.

"The problem is that Apple is always supply-constrained in the first one or two quarters following the launch of a new iPhone, and ironically right when supply matches demand, demand starts to drop because Samsung's new device launches and iPhone buyers have been trained to expect a new device later in the year.

"Apple really needs to do something to break this seasonality and solve these issues, ideally staggering multiple device launches through the year to even out the supply issues and counter the momentum Samsung gains in the middle part of the year."

A drop in average selling prices for iPhones and iPads suggested much of the company's growth came from lower-priced models like the iPhones 4 and 4S, and the iPad Mini, she said, something that could be construed as a "sign of things to come" at Apple.

She added: "As iPad and iPhone shipments, and especially revenues, grow more slowly, it needs new products to continue to deliver the sort of overall revenue growth it has historically produced, and it is not yet clear what those new products will be."

Timeline: the Apple story

1976: Apple Computer is formed on April Fools' Day by Ronald Wayne, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The Apple I computer goes on sale by the summer for £437.44 (666.66 US dollars).

1991: Apple and IBM announce an alliance to develop new PC microprocessors and software. Apple unveils PowerBook portable Macintoshes.

1993: Apple introduces the Newton, a hand-held, pen-based computer. The company reports quarterly loss of £123 million (188 million US dollars) in July.

1997: Steve Jobs returns to Apple as an adviser having left in 1985.

1998: Apple returns to profitability and unveils the iMac, a blue-and-white computer and monitor in one that set Apple on the path to its comeback.

2000: Jobs is named chief executive of Apple.

2001: The first iPod goes on sale.

2003: Apple launches the iTunes music store selling one million songs in the first week.

2005: Apple expands the iPod line with the tiny Nano and an iPod that can play video.

2007: Apple releases its first smartphone, the iPhone. Crowds camp overnight at stores to be one of the first to own the new device.

2009: Jobs announces in January he will be on medical leave. He returns to work in June. Later it is learned that he received a liver transplant.

2010: Apple sells 15 million iPads, its newest gadget, in nine months, giving rise to a new category of modern touch-screen tablet computers.

January 2011: In a memo to Apple employees, Jobs announces a second medical leave with no set duration.

April 2011: Apple and Samsung Electronics begin a global legal battle. Apple filed its patent infringement lawsuit demanding £1.6 billion (2.5 billion US dollars) from its rival tech giant. Samsung fired back with its own lawsuit seeking £222 million (399 million US dollars).

August 2011: Apple announces that Jobs is resigning as chief executive.

October 2011: Jobs dies at home from cancer.

August 2012: Samsung Electronics ordered to pay £689 million (1.05 billion US dollars) to Apple.

March 2013: A US judge erases nearly £328 million (500 million US dollars) in damages Samsung should pay Apple, saying jurors had not properly followed instructions in calculating some damages. The judge also orders a new trial on Apple's allegations that Samsung stole its ideas for more than a dozen different smartphone and tablet computers.

April 2013: Apples loses its position as the world's most valuable publicly traded company with its shares hitting their lowest levels in a year-and-a-half.

April 23, 2013: Apple reveals its first profit slide in a decade with the release of its latest figures, down £1.38 billion (2.1 billion US dollars).