Apple sold less iPhones in the latest quarter but earned a lot more than a year ago, given the price of its iPhone X began at US$1000, according to the company's results for the first fiscal quarter of 2018. The user base of active devices rose to 1.3 billion in January.
Apple's smartphone revenue came in at a record US$61.58 billion for the quarter ending 30 December, a rise of 13% on the corresponding quarter a year prior.
But the number of iPhones sold fell by 1% to 77.3 million units, the company said.
The firm's total revenue was US$88.29 billion, up 13% over the corresponding quarter a year ago. Of this, 65% came from international sales. Profits went up by 12% to US$20.07 billion.
{loadposition sam08}Adding to the additional revenue from iPhones were increases in earnings from iPads, the App Store, music and Apple Pay.
The company's smartwatch division and wireless earbuds also experienced strong sales.
Apple has projected second-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations of US$66.54 billion, saying it would range from US$60 billion to US$62 billion. This forecast represents a rise from the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Analysts' predictions had been higher but in recent weeks there have been reports of a cut in iPhone X production by half in the first three months of 2018, leading to a moderation in predicted figures.
“We’re thrilled to report the biggest quarter in Apple’s history, with broad-based growth that included the highest revenue ever from a new iPhone line-up. iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
“We’ve also achieved a significant milestone with our active installed base of devices reaching 1.3 billion in January. That’s an increase of 30% in just two years, which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers.”
Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri said: “Thanks to great operational and business performance, we achieved all-time record profitability during the quarter, with EPS up 16%.
“Cash flow from operations was very strong at US$28.3 billion, and we returned US$14.5 billion to investors through our capital return programme.”