Apple on Thursday disclosed its iPhone sales dipped slightly during the holiday-season quarter, signaling a sluggish start to the trendsetting company’s effort to catch up to the rest of Big Tech in the race to bring artificial intelligence to the masses.

The company has heavily advertised AI features since the latest iPhones were released in September.

"With investors highly tuned into how AI spend will represent real revenue for big tech, Apple's results have provided...reassurance," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.