Apple Announces Record Quarter, But iPhone Demand Waning
Apple has reported another record quarter, with most divisions up compared to last September.
But while A$139.6 billion in revenue and earnings of A$2 per share are cause for celebration, the iPhone 14 performed under Wall Street forecasts, to the tune of $400 million in sales.
Cook told CNBC the iPhone’s performance surpassed industry expectations.
“We clearly countered the industry trends on the phone if you look at third-party estimates of what the smartphone industry did,” he said.
Cook has a point. According to IDC, global shipments will be down 6 per cent this year, due to “record-breaking inflation, geopolitical tensions, and other macroeconomic challenges that have significantly dampened consumer demand.”
Apple CFO Luca Maestri confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that iPhone 14 Pro models and the new Apple Watch Ultra were suffering from constrained supply, on top of this waning demand.
The iPhone category still managed to outperform the previous September quarter, with A$66.06 billion in sales, as opposed to A$60.23 billion the previous quarter.
In fact, every category rose aside from iPad, which fell $1.67 billion from last September.
The Asia Pacific region, with the exception of Japan, had net sales of A$9.875 billion, up $1.83 billion year-on-year.
Annually, iPhone sales are also up, to the tune of A$20.94 billion.
For the quarter ended September 24, the company posted record revenue of US$90.1 billion (A$139.6 billion), up 8 percent year over year, with quarterly earnings per diluted share of US$1.29, up 4 percent year over year.
Annual revenue was A610.8 billion, up 8 percent year over year, with annual earnings per diluted share were $9.47, up 9 percent year over year.
“This quarter’s results reflect Apple’s commitment to our customers, to the pursuit of innovation, and to leaving the world better than we found it,” Cook said in the earnings announcement.
“As we head into the holiday season with our most powerful lineup ever, we are leading with our values in every action we take and every decision we make. We are deeply committed to protecting the environment, to securing user privacy, to strengthening accessibility, and to creating products and services that can unlock humanity’s full creative potential.”
“Our record September quarter results continue to demonstrate our ability to execute effectively in spite of a challenging and volatile macroeconomic backdrop,” CFO Luca Maestri said of the quarter.
“We continued to invest in our long-term growth plans, generated over $24 billion in operating cash flow, and returned over $29 billion to our shareholders during the quarter. The strength of our ecosystem, unmatched customer loyalty, and record sales spurred our active installed base of devices to a new all-time high.”