article: Despite a rip-roaring 2015, something peculiar happened this month: Apple's stock value dropped to below $100 for the first time since October 2014. That was down from a high of just over $132 last May. As I write this, it's rallying on account of some decent rumours - but it's on Tuesday we'll truly know if 2016 is going to be a tough one for the tech giant. On the one hand, we're expecting an amazing Christmas with record-breaking revenues, yet again. But it's Apple's guidance for what to expect in the months to come that investors will be eagerly awaiting. It's here where the company outlines its worries, the issues that keeps it awake at night (or at least, stressed out in the boardroom). Troubled investors are expecting Apple to say this: For the first time, sales of the iPhone are in decline. Decline! The iPhone! That's a big deal. According to the latest figures Apple has shared - from October - sales of the smartphone make up 63% of the company's entire revenue. That's before you factor in all the people who then go on to buy apps, subscribe to Apple Music, and do any number of other things with their phone from which Apple takes a cut. Its other major products don't even come close. The Mac range has bucked a huge industry-wide decline but still only accounts for 13%. The iPad, meanwhile, represents 8% - though this may get a boost thanks to the recently launched iPad Pro, the bigger version that comes with a keyboard and little stylus. Apple's major new product of recent times has been the Apple Watch. Yet we're still none-the-wiser about how successful that has been, as its performance is lumped into the "other" category, which includes sales of the iPod, Beats headphones and various other things. Collectively, the "other" products were worth 6% in total. The watch will have likely been a good performer at Christmas, so Apple may begin to shed some light on how well it is doing. But we'll have to wait and see. The reliance on the iPhone is what worries investors most. Apple has plenty of repeat business - once hooked in, data shows people are far more likely to stick with Apple than change to another brand like Samsung - but it's now seeing a plateau when it comes to bringing in new customers. Which is why China is so important. Apple now makes more money in China than it does in the whole of Europe, and it's well on course to overtake the US. "If China falls so does Apple," says Apple investor Daniel Ives, from FBR Capital Markets. "They've really bet the house on the China growth opportunity." Almost all of Apple's gains last year were thanks to Chinese expansion - new stores, and new customers who, until fairly recently, had to make do with awful knock-off imitations of the real deal. But instability in the Chinese economy has rocked global markets. If China continues underperforming, it may be hard for Apple to continue
summary: Apple's investors are spooked.