Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced its fourth earnings report last week. Weak smartphone demand didn’t hurt the company’s bottom line, but weak demand in China overshadowed the company’s first year of sales growth, which came as a result of record services revenue. Additionally, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) stripped his Apple of the world’s most valuable company title in January after its market capitalization reached his $3 trillion mark and Apple fell short of this milestone. did. Microsoft also reported its highest profit growth in over two years as it continues to deploy his AI across its business and products.
Q4 Highlights
Apple’s revenue rose 2% year over year to $119.6 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $117.91 billion. Apple also reported record earnings per share of $2.18, which also beat analysts’ expectations of $2.11. Net income increased 13% to $34 billion.
Net iPhone sales rose about 6% year over year to $69.7 billion, while worldwide iPad sales were $7 billion, down from $9 billion in the comparable quarter of 2022.
Although sales increased in Europe and Japan, sales in China decreased 13% year-on-year to $20.8 billion. Chinese demand has slowed more than expected due to increased competition from Huawei and China’s restrictions on the company’s products. According to Counterpoint Research, overall smartphone sales in China increased by 6.6%, Apple maintained its leadership with its 20.2% market share, but its sales decreased by 9%, and Huawei’s sales increased by 71%.
But the services sector, which includes the App Store, iCloud, Apple Pay, and Apple TV, continues to be the star of the show, with revenue up 11% year over year to $23.1 billion.
The iPhone may no longer be the best indicator of Apple’s health…
Services were undoubtedly the star of Apple’s latest quarterly report, released a day after the launch of its Vision Pro headset, Apple’s biggest product in nearly a decade. Priced at $3,499, Apple spent an estimated $100 billion developing the product, which it hopes will become a staple in consumer electronics. More importantly, this product is the ultimate opportunity for Tim Cook to create his own Apple legacy.
Additionally, Apple splurged on AppleTV+ content, garnering as many as 13 Academy Award nominations, 10 of which were for “The Flower Moon Murderers.” But this was somewhat to be expected, since Apple was making the film industry’s biggest bet with Martin Scorsese, the greatest director, writer and producer of all time.
Apple posted strong numbers showing that services continue to grow and become a bigger part of the tech giant’s business, but concerns about China persist. In response to this slowdown in China’s economy, Apple even offered an unusual discount on its latest iPhones in January. Cook also confirmed that the generative AI software features he plans to bring to Apple’s iOS and other platforms later this year. This is not surprising considering that the latest numbers from Microsoft, Google, and Samsung were driven by such enhancements. But given that Apple is known to be secretive about its next moves, Cook’s confirmation and tease could mean that Apple’s AI plans are ambitious, to say the least. There is sex. After all, there is nothing artificial about the business potential of AI and generative AI and the latest figures released by Microsoft and Google, and this is just the beginning of a new era in the making.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as investment advice.
This article was provided by an unpaid external contributor. This does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
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