Apple Posts Good Earnings Despite Weak iPad Sales

Apple announces results for its fiscal fourth quarter. Everything is not so good, but there is still growth.

Apple seems to be resisting the economic crisis. The company reports record revenue of $90.1 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter with a net income of $20.7 billion. While this represents only a slight increase over the same period last year (revenues rose “only”8%), this comes in a difficult economic environment and after near-zero revenue growth in the previous quarter.

Apple reported on the results of the fourth financial quarter

Problems arise rather piecemeal in the Apple catalog. Unsurprisingly, the launch of the iPhone 14 helped the Apple brand a lot ($42.6 billion in revenue compared to $38.9 billion last summer), but other segments are more volatile. While the MacBook Air M2 boosted Mac revenue 25% to $11.5 billion, iPad sales fell below $7.2 billion from nearly $8.3 billion a year earlier. And while services like Apple Music and TV+ set a new record of $19.2 billion, that’s only a small improvement from $18.3 billion last year. Sales of Apple Watch and other connected home devices increased by 8%.

Either way, the customer base seems pretty strong. During the presentation of the results, CFO Luca Maestri clarified that approximately half of Mac and iPad buyers were new to the platform. The Apple brand also boasts more active devices than ever before without specifying it. CEO Tim Cook added that smartphone sales were strong despite iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max supply restrictions.

Everything is not rosy, but there is still growth

Fall (First Quarter 2023) should be better. Apple introduced the new iPads this October after launching its new models last September, so tablet sales are expected to pick up. Tim Cook also added that last year was “extraordinarily strong”thanks to the iPad Pro M1. The iPhone 14 family was also only available for eight days this fourth quarter, so iPhone sales should be better.

Apple is not out of the woods yet. The Cupertino-based company is still cautiously recruiting, and supply issues (including for the Apple Watch Ultra, according to Tim Cook) could affect it for some time. It’s also unclear how people will react to the iPhone 14 Plus, which only started shipping this month. Either way, Apple has reason to be happy. Gartner estimates that the PC market fell 19.5% in the quarter, while Canalys estimates a 9% fall in smartphone shipments. If these numbers are correct, Apple has avoided a lot of trouble.