BTN News: Apple has announced a return to sales growth in its third fiscal quarter. This success is mainly due to iPhone sales performing better than expected, which helped offset a larger-than-expected decline in China, one of Apple’s biggest markets. After this announcement, Apple’s stock went up by 1% in after-hours trading.
Apple’s revenue increased by 4.9% for the quarter ending June 29, reaching $85.78 billion. This number was higher than the $84.53 billion that analysts had predicted. Even though iPhone sales fell by 0.9% to $39.3 billion, this drop was not as big as the 2.2% decrease that analysts had expected. The demand for iPhones picked up before the release of new AI features, which played a big part in this performance.
Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, shared that the iPhone’s performance was better than what they had anticipated three months ago. He noted that the iPhone 15 series has done well right from the start. Even now, as they move through the third quarter, it is performing better than the previous iPhone 14 series.
In China, Apple has been offering big discounts on iPhones to compete with cheaper local smartphones from companies like Huawei. For example, in May, Apple gave discounts up to 2,300 yuan (about $317) on some models to attract more buyers. Despite these efforts, sales in China still fell by 6.5%, reaching $14.73 billion. This decline was more significant than the 2.4% drop analysts had predicted, according to Visible Alpha.
Meanwhile, other tech companies like Amazon.com reported mixed results. Amazon’s second-quarter results were helped by its cloud business. However, the company did not meet analysts’ expectations and provided a less positive outlook for the next quarter. Amazon’s sales for the three months ending in June grew by 10% from the same period last year, reaching $148 billion, which was slightly below the $148.8 billion analysts had expected. Amazon’s net income for the second quarter was $13.485 billion.
Apple’s ability to reduce the impact of a more significant sales decline in China while surpassing iPhone sales expectations shows its strategic strength. The company’s approach to pricing competitively in challenging markets and introducing innovative products continues to support its performance, even in tough economic times. This quarter’s results highlight Apple’s ability to sustain growth and remain competitive in the global technology market.
