Apple revenue crosses $100 billion for first time as iPhone sales soar globally

Apple reported $111.4 billion in revenue marking a record fiscal first quarter ended December 26 on the back of strong iPhone sales, CEO Tim Cook announced during Cupertino’s earnings call on Thursday. International sales accounted for 64% of the quarter’s revenue with the company continuing to make rapid strides in markets like India.

Apple revenue crossed $100 billion for the first time in Cupertino’s history during the final calendar quarter of 2020 and a ‘historic’ holiday season, up 21 percent year over year, but most importantly, iPhone sales reached ‘record’ $65.6 billion—the previous best was $61.58 billion, which Apple achieved in fiscal Q1, 2018. Simply put, the iPhone is making money again after sales missed Wall Street estimates last quarter in part due to a 25% fall in revenue in China.

“Despite the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, Apple is in the midst of our most prolific product introduction period ever, and the early response to all our new products, led by our first 5G-enabled iPhone lineup, has been tremendously positive,” Cook had said during the last earnings call. Clearly, the iPhone 12 did not disappoint, despite coming later than usual—in October 2020.

According to data released by Counterpoint, the iPhone 12 became the world’s best-selling ‘5G’ phone within two weeks of launch. The iPhone 12 Pro was a close second. Together, the iPhone 12 (with 16% market share) and iPhone 12 Pro (with 8% market share) captured “close to one-fourth of the total 5G smartphone sales in October,” the research firm had said in the same report.

Also read | iPhone 12 became world’s best-selling 5G phone within two weeks of launch

Apple also launched the affordable second-generation iPhone SE last year in addition to the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. This was the first time Apple launched as many iPhones, in a year, giving buyers more ‘new’ options to choose from across different price points.

Moving on, iPad sales were up 41% and Mac sales reached 21% year over year, a trend that’s unsurprisingly being carried over from the last quarter, as people around the world continued to work and learn from home in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The numbers are encouraging for Apple’s newest Mac computers, including the M1-powered MacBook Air, Pro, and Mac Mini, and iPads like the iPad Air.

CEO Tim Cook said Apple surpassed 1.65 billion active devices globally during the quarter with the iPhone accounting for over 1 billion of those devices.

Also read | Apple had a record September quarter in India; iPhone 12 getting tremendously positive response, says Tim Cook

Elsewhere, Apple recorded $12.97 billion in revenue in the wearables, smart home and accessory segment and $15.8 billion from services in the quarter.

“Our December quarter business performance was fuelled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices,” Apple CFO, Luca Maestri said in a statement. “These results helped us generate record operating cash flow of $38.8 billion. We also returned over $30 billion to shareholders during the quarter as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”

Like the last quarter, Apple did not provide guidance or earnings forecasts again.