A paradox. The iPhone has recovered and Apple has never had so many subscribers to its services, but the American giant has once again recorded a drop in its quarterly turnover, the fourth in a row, and the market fears that the trend will not continue until the Christmas season. .
Weighed down by falling computer sales, Apple posted $89.5 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of its staggered fiscal year, a drop of 0.72% year-over-year. A figure that continues to be higher than analysts’ forecasts, as is net profit, which amounted to 23 billion dollars (+11%).
The good news is that iPhone sales have increased. “iPhone performance exceeded our expectations, with a record September,” praised Tim Cook, head of the group, during a conference call on Thursday. He hailed an “all-time high” in India for smartphone revenue and records for the summer quarter in different regions. In total, iPhone sales reached $43.8 billion in the July-September period, a good billion more than last year, in line with market estimates.
Services activity (App Store application store, Apple Music streaming platform, iCloud remote data storage services, etc.) recorded the best growth with revenues of $22.3 billion, or 16% more in the summer alone 2022. “Our paid subscriptions are growing strongly,” rejoices Luca Maestri, the company’s financial director. “We have more than one billion paid subscriptions to our services, almost double what we had just three years ago.”
Uncertainties
The big downside this quarter is actually the forecasts for next quarter. Apple has warned that the outlook is only stable for the holiday month, crucial for the company.
Uncertainties hang over the new iPhone range presented in September, the iPhone 15 (marketed at $800 for the base model and $1,200 for the most expensive). Luca Maestri acknowledged that Apple was experiencing supply chain bottlenecks in assembling the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Especially since many observers agree that it does not present major innovations compared to previous versions.
For the current quarter, Tim Cook expects total turnover “similar to last year, despite the quarter having one less week,” and higher revenue for the iPhone. Apple shares, stable before the conference call, lost about 3% following these comments, during electronic trading after the close of the New York Stock Exchange.
Looking towards China
The Chinese market, essential for Apple, is of particular concern to investors. “The largest negative point of these results is the base of 2% des sales in China, leading to the fact that our previous planes,” said Angelo Zino, analyst at CFRA Research, explains the “concerns about the increase in concurrent pressures.” in the region”. Tim Cook attributed the decline to unfavorable exchange rates.
In early September, Apple stock collapsed following an article in the Wall Street Journal that China had banned the use of the iPhone in certain administrations and state-owned companies. “Chinese demand around the iPhone 15 appears to have slowed over the past month after experiencing strong pre-order activity,” noted Dan Ives.
However, the Wedbush analyst is optimistic about this product, a true “goose that lays the golden eggs”, because he estimates that more than 100 million iPhones in China are old enough for their owners to consider purchasing an older device. recent and, in particular, a “Pro”. “Models.
Source: BFM TV
