Apple has outperformed predictions with an 11% increase in sales despite supply-chain problems and chip shortages.
Sales hit US $123.9 billion in the fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 25, the company said this morning, analysts had predicted $119.1 billion on average.
The increase in sales also saw profits rise 9.2%, with the US company generating US$71.6 billion in earnings, from its flagship product, the iPhone.
Analysts were expecting US$67.7 billion, that’s up 9.2% from the year-ago quarter. 
the sales period represented the first full quarter of iPhone 13 revenue.
The phone went on sale in September, several weeks earlier than the iPhone 12 did in 2020.
At the time, the iPhone 13 was considered to be a modest update, with users looking to upgrade to 5G driving sales.
Bloomberg claims that the surprisingly strong results suggest that fears of supply upheaval were overblown.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook had warned late last year that shortages could cost the company more than $6 billion in sales during the all-important holiday period. But the tech giant navigated the crisis and benefited from a flood of new products, including the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, and updated Macs.
“We saw supply constraints across most of our products,” Mr. Cook said in an interview Thursday as the company released its results. “We’re forecasting that we will be less [constrained] in March than we were in the December quarter.”
Apple should see year-over-year revenue growth in the quarter that runs January through March, he said, while remaining circumspect about when the industry’s supply issues will clear up long-term. “We’re not projecting that,” Mr. Cook said. “You need to know a lot of things to be able to make an accurate forecast there, like how are other people’s demands in addition to what kind of supply we can squeeze out.”
The shares gained 3.5% in late trading. Before the report, they had fallen 10% this year, hurt by a broader downturn in tech stocks. The stock gained 34% in 2021.
The iPad brought in $7.25 billion in the first quarter, compared with an estimate of $8.1 billion. The company launched the most significant iPad mini update in the product’s history and a minor refresh to its cheapest tablet during the quarter, but struggled to get enough supply to market.
Apple generated $19.5 billion in services revenue in the first quarter, topping Wall Street expectations of $18.6 billion. The category grew 24% from a year earlier on strong App Store, Apple Music and iCloud subscription sales. Apple said earlier this month that developers generated about $60 billion from the App Store across 2021, but it didn’t share specific App Store revenue for the company.
The wearables, home and accessories division — a unit that includes the Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, Beats headphones, the HomePod and other items — produced $14.7 billion during the quarter. That was up 13% from a year earlier and above the average estimate of $14.2 billion. The category got a boost from new AirPods earbuds launching near the end of 2021 after not getting a similar upgrade in 2020. The Apple Watch Series 7, however, faced a release delay and significant shortages.
More to follow.
