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Headphone jack or not, Apple’s latest numbers prove it can’t be stopped

Rumors of Apple's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

 

Phillip Tracy

Tech

Posted on Feb 1, 2017   Updated on May 25, 2021, 2:17 am CDT

Don’t worry, Apple isn’t going anywhere.

The company posted record-high quarterly revenue and earnings for its first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year, after a lengthy period of uncharacteristic decline.

The smartphone giant sold 78.29 million iPhones from October to December, up from 74.78 million sold at the end of 2015, and just under a million more than Samsung sold this quarter.

“We sold more iPhones than ever before and set all-time revenue records for iPhone, Services, Mac and Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Revenue from Services grew strongly over last year, led by record customer activity on the App Store, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.”

The iPhone, which makes up around three-fourths of Apple’s total device units shipped, helped the company end its consecutive quarterly decline and post $17.9 billion in profit and $78.4 billion in revenue.

Its services—iCloud, Apple Music, and the iTunes Store—also performed well, growing 18 percent year-over-year. This can partially be attributed to the popularity of gaming apps, including Pokémon Go and Super Mario Run.

And the new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar seemed to resonate with folks, as overall Mac sales also rebounded from previous quarters with $500 million in revenue.

But other product categories lagged behind, particularly the iPad. Apple hasn’t released a new version of its tablet since the Pro model back in March. The latest version of the popular Air lineup came out in October 2014. Tablet units declined 19 percent when compared to last year’s results.

Apple includes an “others” category in its financial report for its Apple Watch, TV, headphones, dongles, etc. That grouping also saw a marginal decline in sales when compared to Q1 2016. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook did say it was the Apple Watch’s best quarter ever. Its sales numbers have not been released.

Revenue by operating region was also strong, with China being the only area that saw declining figures, at 12 percent revenue year-over-year. It’s greatest regional success was in Japan, where Apple increased sales by 20 percent. 

The company predicts it will make between $51.5 and $53.5 billion in the second quarter with profit margins between 38 and 39 percent. These numbers are an improvement over last year, but lower than 2015.

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*First Published: Feb 1, 2017, 11:56 am CST