Apple has reported strong third quarter earnings, with revenue pegged at $53.3 billion. This is $1 billion more than projections. This is also 17 percent higher when compared with the same quarter from last year. Apple says that 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue was from international sales. The company now has $243.7 billion in cash on hand.
At the time of writing this, Apple is racing towards the trillion-dollar valuation mark, with a market value of $956.48 billion. This is up from $949.22 billion yesterday. Apple now leaves Amazon will even more distance to cover if it wants to pip Apple to the trillion-dollar mark—Amazon is currently at $876.41 billion. “We’re thrilled to report Apple’s best June quarter ever, and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth,” said Tim Cook, CEO, Apple.
The Cupertino based company sold 41.3 million iPhones in the quarter ending June, and this is higher when compared with the 41.03 million iPhones that Apple sold in the same quarter in 2017. Interesting to note that the iPhones sold in the Q3 2018 were quite a bit more expensive, with the average iPhone selling price in the quarter pegged at $724—this is significantly higher than the $606 average selling price for iPhones in the corresponding quarter in 2017. Clearly, people have not been turned off by the higher selling price of the iPhone X, for instance. Generally, the June quarter is the slowest for Apple in the entire year, as consumers usually wait and watch for the next iPhone announcements in September, and these strong numbers are certainly good news for Apple.
The sales of the iPad also went up, clocking 11.55 million units, which is up from the corresponding quarter last year as well as Q2 2018. One of the reasons for this could be the launch of the iPad (2018) version, which provides an entry-point to the iPad line-up. However, the sales of Mac computing devices fell to 3.72 million units. But there could be better numbers for the Mac devices in the next quarter, as the just released updates for the MacBook line-up will clock their sales now.
It is the “other” products that did very well for Apple in Q3 2018. Apple reported $3.74 billion in revenue from the "other" line-up, which includes the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV and the HomePod speaker, for instance. The “other” category saw a 37 percent jump in revenue year-on-year. As is always the trend, Apple does not give out specific numbers for the individual devices.
The other big revenue jump comes from the Apple services, which includes Apple Music, iCloud, and App Store. These services combined for a 31 percent increase in year-on-year revenue, clocked at $9.55 billion.
Apple, for the first time, mentioned specific numbers about the people currently running the beta versions of the upcoming iOS 12, watchOS 5, macOS Mojave and tvOS 12. “We have over four million users participating in our new OS beta programs,” said Cook during the earnings call.
With the Q3 2018 done, it is clear that Apple is on the verge on something truly special. The upcoming September announcements should provide that extra fuel towards the trillion-dollar valuation mark, which will be achieved by any company for the first time. While the upcoming potential announcements about the new iPhone and perhaps even a new Apple Watch and iPad Pro would be massive, it does seem that Apple will focus significantly on the services category over the next few quarters. The cash on hand could also fuel mergers and acquisitions, and perhaps even a push towards a Netflix-rivalling streaming service that has been expected from Apple for a long time now.
Also read: All Roads Will Lead to The Next iPhone at Apple Q3 Earnings Results
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