Apple sees strong holiday sales, smooth sailing for iPhone X
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc. on Thursday reported better-thanexpected earnings and offered a rosy forecast for the holiday shopping season, allaying investor concerns about production delays on the new iPhone X and demonstrating remarkable strength across its growing line of products and services.
The stellar earnings report came just as the iPhone X went on sale Friday morning in Australia.
Long lines were forming at Apple stores around the world, recalling the consumer frenzy that greeted early versions of the iPhone, but had faded with more recent launches.
With supplies potentially tight, some Australian purchasers were already planning to sell their phones for as much as A$3,000, nearly double the A$1,579 selling price.
Apple shares rose 4% in afterhours trading to hit an all-time high, with analysts lavishing praise on Apple CEO Tim Cook and speculating on when Apple might become the first public company worth a trillion dollars.The earnings demonstrate how
Apple is able to drive growth across an ever-expanding product line that now includes five different iPhone models along with the iPad, the Mac, the Apple Watch and a suite of fastgrowing services offerings.
“We had good success, I would say, through the different iPhones,” Cook said on a call with analysts.
“We tried hard to have an iPhone that is as affordable as possible for people that really want an iPhone, but may have a more limited budget.”
Just a few weeks ago, Apple appeared to be facing a rare stumble with a delay in the iPhone X launch and rumours of production problems that could limit supply.
But Apple executives on Thursday shrugged off the concerns as chief financial officer Luca Maestri told Reuters the company was “quite happy” with how manufacturing of the iPhone X was progressing.
Apple forecast fiscal firstquarter revenue of $84 billion to $87 billion, at the high end of analysts average expectations of $84.18 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
“A trillion-dollar market cap may now be in Cook’s sights in light of these results and guidance around iPhone X,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at GBH Insights, referring to Apple’s CEO.