Despite geopolitical instabilities, Apple managed a double-digit growth across all its geographic segments.
Apple posted its “best March quarter ever”, according to outgoing CEO Tim Cook, with a revenue of $111.2bn – up 17pc year on year. The company managed a 16pc revenue jump in its previous quarter, reporting a $143.8bn “record” revenue.
Despite geopolitical instabilities threatening the company’s supply chain, Apple, this quarter, managed a double-digit growth across all its geographic segments. Overall, net sales grew by around 16.6pc, with products and services showing 16.7pc and 16.2pc growth respectively.
“iPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fuelled by such extraordinary demand for the iPhone 17 lineup,” Cook said. New additions to its product line-up this quarter include the latest in its more affordable iPhone ‘e’ series, the new iPad Air powered by its in-house M4 chips, alongside the new MacBook Neo – which saw an overall positive reception from reviewers.
iPhone sales grew 21.6pc quarter over quarter to nearly $60bn, while Mac grew 5.6pc and Apple services, including iCloud, App Store and Apple Pay, grew 16.2pc.
“Continued strong customer demand for our products and services once again helped us achieve a new all-time high for our installed base of active devices across all major product categories and geographic segments,” said Apple’s chief financial officer Kevan Parekh.
The quarter past generated more than $28bn in operating cash flow. Company shares rose 2.7pc in after-hours trading.
Earlier this month, Apple announced that Cook will be stepping down as CEO after 15 years in the role, handing his position to senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus. In the earnings call yesterday, Cook told investors that the transition “is the right one”.
“Our roadmap is incredible,” he said. “And most importantly, we have the right leader ready to step into the role.
“There is no one on this planet I trust more to lead Apple into the future than John Ternus. John is a brilliant engineer, a deep thinker, a person of remarkable character, and a born leader.” Analysts believe Ternus’ background as a hardware engineer signals a potential for a regained focus into physical products.
“[Ternus] must resist the temptation of incrementalism that has plagued Apple of late and escape the iPhone’s gravitational pull in his quest for the next disruptive form factor,” commented Forrester VP principal analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee earlier this month. The company is still heavily reliant on the iPhone for growth.
Following the latest results, Chatterjee said that Apple’s latest performance is vindicatory, underscoring the company’s ability to sustain growth through product experience, even amid persistent criticism that it lags in AI.
Apple is, however, making a step change towards that direction with reports that it is moving away from ChatGPT exclusivity for its Siri voice assistant in an attempt to bolster its AI offerings. It was also reported that the company is testing a new standalone app for Siri.
“Its strategy remains consistent – treating AI not as a standalone feature but as an embedded layer within the broader ecosystem that delivers exceptional customer experiences in the moments that matter,” Chatterjee continued.
“As Tim Cook prepares to hand over to John Ternus, the focus will shift from execution to vision. The question is not whether Apple can still grow. It is whether the company can escape the gravitational pull of its own success to reimagine a different future.”
Apple announced a new Dublin office in February set to house 300 workers. Meanwhile, the company’s Big Tech contemporaries Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet all posted positive results this quarter with massive AI spending plans in place for the year.
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