Apple reported a rare miss in its quarterly results after sales of its flagship iPhone fell well short of Wall Street expectations.

Shares of the world's most valuable technology corporation dived more than 5 per cent to below $400 after it said it sold 17.07 million iPhones - well short of the roughly 20 million expected by analysts.

The September quarterly report was Apple's first under new chief executive Tim Cook, who took over in August after co-founder Steve Jobs resigned. The company lost its leading visionary and co-founder when he died on October 5th.

Apple said its revenue rose to $28.27 billion but that was also lower than the average Reuters analyst estimate of $29.69 billion.

The company reported a net profit of $6.62 billion, or $7.05 a share. That fell shy of expectations for earnings of $7.39 per share.

Apple sold 11.12 million iPad tablets and 4.89 million Macs in the September quarter.

The company said today that its stores would close for a period tomorrow as a mark of respect to Mr Jobs. Staff are due to participate in a celebration of his life.

Reuters