During the first quarter of 2016, 74.78 million iPhones were sold by the company, which makes it the biggest contributor to its profit of $18.4 billion, out of a total of $75 billion in sales. And in its first quarter of 2016 (Apple works in the October-September fiscal), the company has brought in $5.5 billion in services revenue which is a 15 percent year-over-year change.
Advertisement
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said the results represented a “huge accomplishment”, given “the turbulent world around us”, on an earnings call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
The “other products” segment, which includes the Apple Watch and Apple TV, had revenues of $4.4 billion. One analyst estimated, based on the revenue estimates Apple provided, that it will sell 50 million to 52 million units in the March quarter.
Apple is expected to release the next iPhone models, with new features, later this year.
Daniel Ives, managing director at FBR Capital Markets, told ABC News that softness – that’s a saturation in smartphones on the market with fewer buyers – will be a challenge for Apple and its competitors.
Along with record profits during the fourth quarter, Apple said its active installed base surpassed a billion devices for the first time ever.
The slowdown in iPhone sales, which account for roughly two-thirds of Apple’s revenue, raises questions about the technology giant’s growth.
The iPad’s decline continued as sales fell from 24.4 million to 16.1 million over the past year and revenues slumped from $9 billion to $7 billion. Sales of the iPad stagnated during the quarter despite the introduction of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
While it is a probably a bit worrying for Apple that they’re not doing as well as in previous years we do find it hard to feel sorry for a company that only made $1 billion more than it did last year.
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.
Advertisement
Apple raised the spectre of the end of a technological era after reporting on Tuesday the slowest growth sales ever of its market-leading, life-changing iPhone and warning it expects worse to come.
