Image: © I Viewfinder/Stock.adobe.com
Despite new records for the iPhone and services, sales from Macs and the iPad fell in the double digits. Meanwhile, Apple sees strong growth in India.
Apple revenue has fallen for the fourth consecutive quarter as its latest earnings report shows a 1pc dip in sales year-on-year. Even though this slight drop was expected, Apple beat Wall Street revenue expectations of $89.28bn by bringing in $89.5bn instead.
Its fourth fiscal quarter of the year, ended September, shows strong performance for both the iPhone and its services division, both of which raked in record revenue according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“Today Apple is pleased to report a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record in services,” Cook said last night (2 November).
“We now have our strongest line-up of products ever heading into the holiday season, including the iPhone 15 line-up and our first carbon-neutral Apple Watch models, a major milestone in our efforts to make all Apple products carbon neutral by 2030.”
Sales from the iPhone, which added the iPhone 15 to the series days before the quarter ended, amounted to $43.81bn, while services brought in $22.3bn in the latest quarterly earnings. And, despite the expected drop in overall sales, Apple shares were up ahead of the call.
This comes as Apple announced just days ago a new 24-inch iMac, new MacBook Pro models and the latest series of M3 chips to power them.
Not all was smooth sailing for the world’s most valuable company, however. Revenue from Macs fell 34pc year-over-year to $7.6bn, while iPad revenue fell 10pc. Sales dipped 2.5pc in China and 1.5pc in Europe, while the Americas saw a meagre 0.8pc growth.
Apple also noted that revenue in the upcoming holiday quarter, the busiest time of the year, will be about the same as last year, with a Wall Street projected growth of 5pc.
“Our active installed base of devices has again reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments, thanks to the strength of our ecosystem and unparalleled customer loyalty,” added Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer.
“During the September quarter, our business performance drove double digit EPS [earnings per share] growth and we returned nearly $25bn to our shareholders, while continuing to invest in our long-term growth plans.”
While Asia overall hasn’t been promising this quarter, performance has stood out in India, where Apple just had its best quarter despite the market being dominated by Samsung. A record number of shipments to the world’s most populous country saw a 34pc increase year-on-year.
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
