CUPERTINO, Calif., June 18 -- Apple today announced that it expects to generate revenues of about $1.4 billion to $1.45 billion in the June quarter, down from previous guidance of about $1.6 billion. The lower-than-expected revenues are primarily due to soft demand in the consumer and creative markets such as advertising and publishing. Geographically, revenues in Europe and Japan have become particularly weak. The revenue shortfall is expected to be offset significantly by higher-than-expected gross margins primarily due to lower costs of some components. Accordingly, the Company has revised its earnings guidance to $.08 to $.10 per diluted share, compared to previous guidance of $.11 or slightly higher. "Like others in our industry, we are experiencing a slowdown in sales this quarter. As a result, we're going to miss our revenue projections by around 10%, resulting in slightly lower profits," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We've got some amazing new products in development, so we're excited about the year ahead. As one of the few companies currently making a profit in the PC business, we remain very optimistic about Apple's prospects for long-term growth."