(Telecompaper) Apple reported revenues for its fiscal first quarter to December 2015 up just 2 percent year-on-year to USD 75.9 billion. The sales were at the low end of its forecast of USD 75.5-77.5 billion. Apple blamed the slower growth on the strong US dollar, saying revenues would have risen 8 percent at constant exchange rates. At constant rates, revenues were up 18 percent in Europe and 17 percent in greater China, while falling 1 percent in the Americas and 4 percent in Japan. The company's net profit rose to USD 18.4 billion or USD 3.28 per share, from USD 18.0 billion or USD 3.06 per share a year earlier, and Apple maintained its quarterly dividend at 52 cents a share. While Apple said it set a new record for iPhone sales in the quarter, after the launch of the iPhone 6s in September, unit sales of the smartphone were unchanged year-on-year at 74.78 million and revenues were up just 1 percent compared to the same quarter a year earlier. iPad sales fell 25 percent year-on-year to 16.12 million, and sales of Mac computers were down 3 percent over the same period to 5.31 million units. For fiscal Q2, Apple forecast a sharp slowdown in sales to USD 50-53 billion and a gross margin of 39.0-39.5 percent compared to 40.1 percent in Q1.