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.

Apple reported $18.5 billion in sales in greater China last quarter, comfortably below consensus estimates of $20.9 billion.

Apple shares rose in after-market trading on Thursday after the company forecast higher sales than Wall Street expected, a sign the company expects iPhone sales to recover as it rolls out artificial intelligence features.