Shine off Apple's Q4: iPhone sales lower than expected.(Financial report)

Apple has fallen short of Wall Street's earnings expectations for the first time since 2004.

The company reported earnings of $6.62 billion (or $7.05 per share) in its fiscal fourth quarter. While that represented a 54% gain in net income, it was notably less than the $7.39 analysts had expected. Shares fell roughly 6% in after-hours trading.

This was just the third time since 2002 that Apple has missed analyst expectations. The numbers did greatly exceed Apple's own guidance, but investors and analysts tend to ignore those figures given how fiscally conservative the company is.

Lower-than-expected iPhone sales were to blame for the shortfall. Apple sold …