Despite lacklustre quarter Apple’s still got juice

The fourth quarter results are out for the world’s most successful company and it is not a rosy number. Apple shares have fallen 2 per cent as it posted a third straight quarter of revenue decline (year-on-year). The Cupertinobased company posted (quarterly) revenue of $46.9 billion and net income of $9 billion. These results compare to revenue of $51.5 billion and net income of $11.1 billion, in the same quarter a year ago. Since it released its main jewel, the iconic iphone7, Apple has managed to sell 45 million iphones. During the same period last year, Apple had sold 48 million iPhones — roughly five per cent more. The decline comes even as Apple’s main rival — the South Korean major Samsung witnessed a nightmarish few months, recalling its Galaxy Note7 smartphones.

While Apple revenues are up in Europe and Japan (compared to 2015), the company didn’t do too well in China and the Americas. Two major reasons have thrown a spanner in its works. First — the overall sales of iPhone have been down. For a company that makes almost 65 per cent of its revenues through iPhone, this spells trouble. Secondly growth in China has been sluggish. Sales in the Asian major have fallen by 30 per cent year-on-year. China is Apple’s second-largest market with a massive growth potential. Not all is lost though. There is a silver lining on the cloud for Apple. The next six to 12 months are going to be critical. Apple has already set its eyes on 2017 — the anniversary year of iPhone. Investors are expecting a bigger update to the platform than iPhone 7. Already the latest version of iOS — iOS 10 — is being adopted at the faster rate ever. Apple is expecting a return in sales growth during the three months ending December, which would be a good precursor for things to come.