Weak iPhone Sales Shock Apple Shares

Sales of the iPhone, the joint Apple-AT&T venture that jolted the tech world in June, have cooled—only 200,000 units moved this month, compared to an estimated 700,000 during the premiere weekend alone. Apple shares were down more than 6% today on the news. Meanwhile, AT&T profits jumped 61% in the second quarter: Bloomberg reports that the telecom giant's net income rose to $2.9B from $1.8B.

AT&T attributed its 13% rise in sales mainly to an exclusive deal with Apple to service the  iPhone, and described iPhone sales as "robust". But the nation's largest phone company, which was off nearly 1% today, was also boosted by its $86 billion takeover of BellSouth, which gave it complete ownership of Cingular, the cellular provider that has adopted the AT&T name. (More iPhone stories.)