With iPhone sales rising again, Apple may be partially escaping the weakening economy. The American group reported its second consecutive quarterly revenue decline. However, the minus was only slightly more than half as high as feared. In fact, revenue from iPhones surprisingly increased by 1.5 percent to $51.33 billion.
“We are seeing a record number of iPhones in use across all regions,” CEO Tim Cook said Thursday. Demand has increased particularly sharply in emerging countries such as Brazil, India and Mexico.
On that basis, Cook announced a dividend of $0.24 per share and a share repurchase of an additional $90 billion. Apple shares then rose 2 percent in after-hours trading in the US. A year ago, he announced a $0.23 payout and $90 billion buybacks.
Sales of wearables stable
The wearables division, which includes the AirPods headphones and the Apple Watch, also performed surprisingly well. Instead of the predicted 4.4 percent decline, sales fell less than 1 percent to $8.76 billion.
Significant minus in the computer business
The computer business, on the other hand, collapsed more than expected, shrinking by 30 percent to $7.17 billion. The minus was only slightly better than for the PC industry as a whole. According to analysis agency Canalys, that was 33 percent. A recovery is not in sight for the time being. In the current year, global sales of PCs will fall by 12 percent and smartphone sales by 5.5 percent, before picking up again in 2024, the consultancy Gartner predicts.
Demand from China was also disappointing in the past quarter. Here, sales shrank by an above-average 2.9 percent to $ 17.8 billion. “Apple will need China as an engine of growth and profit for the foreseeable future,” said analyst Tom Forte of research firm DA Davidson. “Emerging countries are important in the long run.” This applies in particular to India as a production location and market.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
