Michelle ThompsonApple has broken its losing streak as it reported its first sales growth in a year. This growth was mainly driven by record revenue from its App Store and other services, but it still faces challenges in the Chinese market. The company’s earnings report coincided with the launch of its significant new product, the Vision Pro headset, aimed at becoming a must-have home electronics item.
In summary, Apple achieved its first year-over-year revenue increase in a while, although China posed a weakness with a 13% decline in revenue compared to the previous year. In contrast, sales saw an increase in Europe and Japan.
Apple’s latest earnings report comes just before the launch of one of its riskiest hardware releases in recent years, the Vision Pro augmented reality headset, which has seen substantial investment in research and development. This headset is priced at $3,499 in the US.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attributed the company’s growth to iPhone sales and record-breaking revenue from its services division in the last quarter of 2023, highlighting that the active device user base has surpassed 2.2 billion. However, it’s noted that the revenue figures for China indicate a slowdown in demand, potentially due to increased competition from local brands like Huawei.
Despite beating analysts’ expectations with a record earnings per share of $2.18 and revenue of $119.6 billion for the quarter, Apple’s stock declined by over 3% after the market closed. The focus also centered on the launch of the Vision Pro headset during discussions with analysts and executives, with Apple acknowledging it as a significant company-wide effort.
Emily Martinez
