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In the first company earnings call since Apple Vision Pro was launched, CEO Tim Cook said that the device had been purchased by half of Fortune 100 companies.
Apple has surprised investors with better-than-expected earnings in the last quarter as revenue from services reached an all-time high.
In an earnings call yesterday (2 May), Apple reported quarterly revenue of $90.8bn – which is down 4pc from the same quarter last year but higher than analysts’ expectations.
The low expectations were largely because of the iPhone losing its dominance in China – a key market for the company – thanks to massive growth in demand for Huawei smartphones.
Now, chief financial officer Luca Maestri says that Apple’s active installed base of devices has reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments thanks to “very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty”.
“Given our confidence in Apple’s future and the value we see in our stock, our board has authorised an additional $110bn for share repurchases. We are also raising our quarterly dividend for the twelfth year in a row,” Maestri said, adding that Apple set a new EPS (earnings per share) record for the March quarter.
“During the quarter, we were thrilled to launch Apple Vision Pro and to show the world the potential that spatial computing unlocks,” CEO Tim Cook said on the earnings call.
“We’re also looking forward to an exciting product announcement next week and an incredible Worldwide Developers Conference next month. As always, we are focused on providing the very best products and services for our customers, and doing so while living up to the core values that drive us.”
Looking ahead at the quarter ended June, Cook told reporters that overall sales are expected to grow in the low single digits.
In the previous earnings report, the first of Apple’s fiscal year, the company had high expectations for the Apple Vision Pro, which was set to launch a day after the call. But the virtual reality device has had an underwhelming run in the market because of low consumer demand and high cost.
But Cook noted yesterday that the Vision Pro has been purchased by half of the Fortune 100 companies. Apple has shared very little about sales details for the device, but this uptake shows the device may be a hit in the enterprise sector – including customers such as KLM Airlines, Porsche and Lowe.
In Europe, Apple has been making attempts to keep up with regulation. Last month, Apple lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it which alleged it charged more than 1,500 UK developers unfair commission fees of up to 30pc on app purchases.
And just yesterday, the company shared two additional conditions under which its core technology fee need not be paid in the EU. Following the designation of iPadOS as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, Apple also said it will bring its recent iOS changes for apps in the EU to iPadOS later this year.
“Longer term, I think that Apple’s shift to a service business model is a robust approach to compensate for its dependence on iPhone sales performance,” said Thomas Husson, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.
“It will also be key to watch how Apple deals with growing regulatory pressure in Europe given the recent €1.8bn fine from the EU Commission and the implementation of the Digital Markets Act, as well as recent investigations from the US Department of Justice.”
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