Despite the country’s disruptions, Apple managed double-digit growth in all its divisions.
Apple posted its “best March quarter ever,” according to outgoing CEO Tim Cook, with revenue of $111.2bn – up 17pc year-on-year. The company managed a 16pc revenue jump in its last quarter, reporting a “record” profit of $143.8bn.
Despite the political instability that threatens the company’s network, Apple, this quarter, was able to grow by double digits in all its parts. Overall, net sales grew by around 16.6pc, with products and services showing growth of 16.7pc and 16.2pc respectively.
“iPhone achieved record revenue for the March quarter, driven by incredible 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 internal M4 chips, alongside the new MacBook Neo – which has been well received by reviewers.
iPhone sales grew by 21.6pc quarter-on-quarter to almost $60bn, while Mac sales grew by 5.6pc and Apple services, including iCloud, the App Store and Apple Pay, grew by 16.2pc.
“Continued strong customer demand for our products and services also helped us reach new highs in the installed base of active devices across all major product categories and geographic segments,” said Apple chief financial officer Kevan Parekh.
Last quarter it generated more than $28bn in cash flow. The company’s shares were up 2.7pc in after-hours trading.
Earlier this month, Apple announced that Cook would step down as CEO after 15 years in the role, giving his position to senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus. In an earnings call yesterday, Cook told investors that the change was “the right one”.
“Our road is amazing,” he said. “And most importantly, we have the right leader who is ready to step into the role.
“There is no one on the planet that I trust more to lead Apple into the future than John Ternus. John is a brilliant engineer, a deep thinker, an amazing person, and a born leader.” Analysts believe that Ternus’ background as a hardware engineer means that a refocus on physical products is likely.
“[Ternus] it must resist the growth temptation that has plagued Apple recently and escape the gravity of the iPhone in its search for something else to disrupt,” noted Forrester VP principal analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee earlier this month The company still relies heavily on the iPhone for growth.
After the latest results, Chatterjee said Apple’s recent performance is proof, underscoring the company’s ability to sustain growth through the product experience, even amid persistent criticism that it is lagging behind in AI.
Apple, however, is making a shift in that direction with reports that it is moving away from choosing ChatGPT for its Siri voice assistant in an effort to strengthen its AI offerings. It has also been reported that the company is testing a new standalone version of Siri.
“Its strategy remains the same – to treat AI as a standalone feature but as an embedded layer within a broader ecosystem that delivers exceptional customer experiences at key moments,” continued Chatterjee.
“As Tim Cook prepares to hand over to John Ternus, the focus will be on execution and vision. The question is not whether Apple can continue to grow. It’s whether the company can escape the gravity of its success to reimagine a different future.”
Apple announced a new Dublin office in February that will house 300 employees. Meanwhile, Big Tech companies Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet all posted positive results this quarter with big AI spending plans for the year.
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