Apple Posts Record $18.4 Billion In Fiscal Q1 Profit, But iPhone Sales Stall And iPad Sales Plummet
Analysts have been predicting gloom and doom for Apple for the past few months, as you can see from its stock price which has dipped below $100 again after reaching highs in the $130s early in 2015. To be sure, there is definite cause for concern, but Apple still posted its highest profit ever during fiscal Q1 2016, $18.4 billion, which was slightly up from $18 billion during the same period a year ago.
Overall revenue for the quarter came me in $75.9 billion (up from $74.6 billion) while gross margins were also up slightly, growing from 39.9 percent during the same period last year to 40.1 percent this year. International sales were a primary driver for Apple, as it has been in recent years, accounting for 66 percent of the company’s quarterly revenue.
Looking deeper into the numbers show a different story, however, and line up with the channel reports we’ve been hearing. While iPhone sales once again set an all-time record with 74.8 million unit sold, this was barely up from a year ago when the company sold 74.5 million units. Mac sales took a hit, falling 4 percent year-over-year to 5.3 million units.
Apple’s iPad, however, was hit the hardest with a 25 percent year-over-year decline, bringing quarterly sales down to 16.1 million (this despite the fact that Apple has a brand new iPad Pro in the mix with an eye for corporate customers).
“Our team delivered Apple’s biggest quarter ever, thanks to the world’s most innovative products and all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “The growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results, and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices.”
It’s worth noting that Apple is forecasting fiscal second quarter revenue coming in at between $50 to $53 billion — that is actually less than what Apple actually raked in during fiscal Q2 2015 and would make the first year-over-year decline for Cupertino in thirteen years.
