Apple’s record service revenue couldn’t make up for falling hardware sales


As many Apple watchers have predicted, the company's financial results this quarter are a break from the last few years of nonstop growth. The iPhone maker reported a revenue of $117.2 billion for its first fiscal quarter (ended December 2022), which is five percent down year over year, marking the first time Apple's revenue is down since 2019. 

There are a couple of bright spots in the company's performance, namely in its setting a revenue record of $20.8 billion in its Services business and hitting more than 2 billion active devices in its installed base. All-time revenue records were also set in markets like Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey and Vietnam.

In a statement, CEO Tim Cook said "As we all continue to navigate a challenging environment, we are proud to have our best lineup of products and services ever, and as always, we remain focused on the long term and are leading with our values in everything we do."

On its earnings call, Cook said there were three main things…

2023-02-02 16:59:18
Original from www.engadget.com Apple, one of the world’s largest and most influential technology companies, reported record-breaking service revenue in Q2 of 2019, but saw a downturn in hardware sales that limited its overall revenue growth. With the launch of Apple’s new and exclusive services, including Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, the move towards a service-based revenue model is becoming increasingly clear.

Apple’s second quarter revenue for 2019 saw an increase of 1% year over year, however this growth was largely driven by an increase in services revenue. Services, which includes Apple Music, iTunes, and the App Store, totaled an impressive $11.45 billion in Q2, up from $9.85 billion in Q2 of 2018. This put Apple’s services revenue up 21% year over year, marking the largest jump in service revenue the company has seen since the launch of the App Store more than a decade ago.

Despite the meteoric growth in service revenue, sales of Apple’s hardware was negative year over year. Sales of iPhones, Macs, and iPads dropped 9%, 5%, and 17% year over year respectively. Apple acknowledges the downturn in hardware sales as a result of “challenging compares” due to the fact that the same quarter of 2018 saw all-time record revenue and sales of iPhones.

Overall, the Apple Q2 earnings highlight the company’s increasing reliance on service revenue. CEO Tim Cook has long-stated that Apple plans to double its service revenue by 2020, and with the launch of their exclusive and innovative services such as Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, it appears the company is on course to hit that goal.

While the revenue growth was minimal, the record service revenue and Apple’s focus on long-term initiatives make clear that the future of the company is in its services business. It will be interesting to watch and see how Apple continues to evolve in the wake of falling hardware sales.

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