Technology experts said the results showed Apple’s “untouchable” brand was not immune to “smartphone fatigue” as the company failed to entice as many new customers with its latest iPhone features. iPad sales fell from 21.4 million units in Q1 2015 to 16.1 million in Q1 2016.
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This compared to a profit of $18 billion with revenue of $74.6 billion made for the same period one year ago.
In the quarter Apple also sold a record 74.8 million iPhones, however sales were only up slightly from the 74.5 million units it sold in the same quarter a year earlier – marking the slowest growth ever for iPhone sales.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, in a statement explained that Apple’s services business and its growth lead to the acceleration for the quarter which produced record results.
Cook said the revenue earned in the first quarter is on par with the annual revenue of a Fortune 500 company, and went on to say that this quarter saw the largest switch of Android users to iOS. It is important to note that the company’s own predictions state that its yearly revenue will decline.
On the devices side, iPhone sales continue to grow, albeit at a much slower pace from 74.5 million units to 74.8 million year-over-year.
Apple’s shares plunged Wednesday morning after the company reported lower-than-expected sales in the three months ending in December and warned that things aren’t likely to get better anytime soon.
Apple posted a record quarterly profit with net income growing 2 per cent year-on-year at $18.4 billion, while revenue was also up at $75.9 billion.
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Apple once again declined to disclose sales figures for the Apple Watch, leaving analysts to speculate just how successful the gadget is. This category includes Apple TV, Beats products, iPods and accessories for Apple devices as well as the Watch, though, so it’s hard to draw any firm conclusions. The company gave a revenue guidance of about $50 billion to $53 billion for the current period, down from the previous year’s revenue of $58 billion. According to 9to5Mac, Apple is preparing to launch a smartphone with 4-inch screen in March or April called the iPhone 5se. “Your main product (iPhone) is flat, most recent hit (iPad) is down 25%, R&D expenses up, yet profits rise”.
