Apple is expected to report the iPhone’s first annual decline in sales volumes this week, but in turn fuelling Wall Street’s hopes of a rebound in the run-up to Christmas.

Apple is forecast to report iPhone sales of about 45m units on Tuesday when it releases earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, according to analysts, marking the third successive quarter of decline for its flagship product. That would take total iPhone sales to 211m for Apple’s 2016 financial year, which is about 9 per cent lower than the previous year.

Though the drop has long been anticipated by investors based on Apple’s guidance, the result is a stark turnround after Apple’s blockbuster 2015, which saw iPhone sales surgeby 37 per cent to 231m, thanks to huge demand for the iPhone 6.