Sales show iPhone as popular as ever

IN CASE you had started to doubt it: people still love the iPhone.

Apple announced this week it sold 78.2million iPhones in its first fiscal quarter – a record for any single quarter in the company’s history.

The tech giant had concerned analysts with a few weak quarters that have raised doubts about the iPhone’s staying power.

Apple returned to growth for the first time in three quarters.

Though its profits slipped 2.6% from the same time last year, it touted a record-breaking $78.4billion (R1trillion) in revenue.

Both Apple’s profit and revenue beat analysts’ expectations.

“We’re thrilled to report that our holiday quarter results generated Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, and broke multiple records along the way.

“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 chief executive.

The iPhone was the main force behind Apple’s revenue record.

Sales of the smartphones made up 69% of Apple’s revenue in its first quarter, and were up 5% from the same time last year.

Consumers still turned out to buy the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, despite the fact that Apple didn’t deliver as much of an update to the phone line as many had expected.

The firm is expected to release a major upgrade this year in honour of the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.

But with good reviews, and perhaps buoyed by problems at its arch-rival Samsung, Apple managed to lead the smartphone market with the iPhone 7 this holiday season, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

As Cook noted, it was a good quarter for Apple hardware.

The Mac line, which saw a laptop refresh earlier this year, grew 7% year-over-year. But sales of the iPad continued to slide, down 22% from the first-quarter last year.

Apple’s services business, which includes the App Store and iTunes store, saw revenue rise 18% from the same time last year.

Cook said he expects this segment will double over the next four years.

Shares of the company were up more than 3% from Apple’s Tuesday close of $121.35 after the report was announced. – The Washington Post