(San Francisco) Apple substantially exceeded market expectations with nearly $95 billion in revenue for the January-March period, including the California-based group’s net profit of $24 billion, amid an economic slowdown global.
In 2022, over the same period, the group had achieved a turnover of 97.2 billion dollars, with a net profit of 25 billion dollars.
Sales of its flagship iPhone, up slightly year-on-year to $51.33 billion, according to an earnings release on Thursday, also beat forecasts as demand for the devices fell sharply electronics because of inflation.
Its services business also grew a little year on year, to nearly $21 billion for the second quarter of its staggered fiscal year, January-March.
“We are pleased to have achieved an all-time high in Services and a second quarter record for iPhone despite the difficult economic environment. Our base of active devices is at an all-time high,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the statement.
The Cupertino (Silicon Valley) group’s revenues fell year on year, but the market expected worse.
Because the demand for electronic devices, which had exploded during the pandemic and its confinements, has fallen in recent months in the face of inflation.
In the second half of 2022, mobile phone sales worldwide fell to their lowest level since 2014, according to Canalys.
But “the popularity of the professional line of iPhones is helping Apple expand market share, despite demand constraints,” Canalys analyst Le Xuan Chiew said in late January.
“And unexpected difficulties on the supply side for these models have led Apple to accelerate its diversification to mitigate the impact of this issue,” he added.
Personal computer sales also slumped early in the year, falling to a level below pre-pandemic levels, due to “weak” demand, “excess” inventory and a macroeconomic climate. which is “getting worse,” according to IDC.
Apple’s Macs were not spared: they generated $7.2 billion in revenue in the past quarter, up from $10.4 billion in the same period last year.
The company’s chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, said the board had decided on a $90 billion share buyback plan.