Apple reported holiday-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street expectations on high demand for iPhones and wearables, in a remarkable comeback from a year ago when it missed its own targets.
The world’s most valuable technology company reported $91.8 billion in revenue in the first quarter, up 9% from a year earlier, against an estimated $88.4 billion. Apple said it expects sales of $63-67 billion in the second quarter, above $62.3 billion estimated by analysts, sending its stock up about 2% in extended trading.
However, like many other multinational companies, Apple relies on manufacturing plants and supply chains in China, which is battling an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. In a conference call with analysts, chief executive officer Tim Cook addressed the issue, saying Apple is following developments in China. Virtually all iPhones are made by Foxconn’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in Zhengzhou and by Pegatron Corp. near Shanghai. The company is working closely with employees and partners in the region, he added.
Cook said Apple saw “strong demand” for the latest iPhones and noted that a base of more than 1.5 billion devices has been “a great driver of our growth across the board”.
“The strength is coming from the iPhone and continued really strong growth in wearables and the App Store,” said Shannon Cross of Cross Research. “The iPhone was very strong.”
In India, Apple had a double-digit unit sales growth during the quarter.
“We grew double digits in emerging markets led by strong performances in Brazil, mainland China, India, Thailand and Turkey,” Cook told analysts. Apple didn’t provide specific numbers for the India market.
“New iPhones, primarily the iPhone 11, were the default choice for many buyers in luxe segment (above ₹50,000). iPhone has close to a 12 million user base in India, which is now buying accessories and services,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst at techARC.
Apple launched a slew of services like video streaming platform Apple TV+ and game platform Arcade in November, which are also open to users in India starting at ₹99. Apple Music was launched in India in 2015.
The smartphone market in India, now the world’s second- largest in terms of annual shipments, is dominated by Chinese companies.
However, Apple has finally started making inroads and was one of the fastest-growing smartphone vendors in the country in the fourth quarter of last year.
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