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Apple recovers its profits by selling 78.3 million iPhones

Apple reported an astounding first quarter of 2017, breaking records in iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch sales.

The quarterly revenue as of January 31 stood at $78.4 billion, driving the earning per diluted share price up to $3.36. In comparison, Apple reported $75.9 billion in its 2016’s first quarter, with a $3.28 earning per share. Apple CEO Tim Cook assures that revenue coming from Apple services increased significantly over the course of 2016, being boosted by consumer activity from within the App Store.

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Image credit: TechCrunch.

“We’re thrilled to report that our holiday quarter results generated Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, and broke multiple records along the way. We sold more iPhones than ever before and set all-time revenue records for iPhone, Services, Mac and Apple Watch,” reported Tim Cook, CEO of Apple in a recent statement published on the company’s website.

Apple rises again as a leader in tech markets

Apple’s business performance for 2017’s first quarter was acknowledged as an all-time record, resulting in over $27 billion in operating cash flow. Investors were dutifully reimbursed through share repurchases and dividends.

The backbone of the company’s recent success was the sale of the iPhone 7, which saw a great deal of activity during the holiday season, selling 78 million units and plowing through expectations that predicted only a few millions to be sold in total. The immense sales boost provided Apple with a four percent growth in historical device sales.

Apple iPhone. Image credit: Pexels.

On that same note, Apple sold 13 million iPads and 5.3 million Mac computers, which falls below what the company initially sought to sell by the last months of 2016. Although these products, including the Apple Watch, did not perceive great sales as the report shows, Apple remained hopeful about the performance of these items in the market. Tim Cook even called Q1 2017 the “best quarter ever for Apple Watch.”

Furthermore, it is stated by Apple CFO Luca Maestri that the iPad has an 85 percent share of all tablets over $200, and purchase intentions for an iPad are four times higher than that of competitors. In contrast, overall iPad sales do not seem to be so promising, which may indicate a decline in the tablet market as a whole, seeing that smartphones are becoming more powerful and accessible as time passes.

“We returned nearly $15 billion to investors through share repurchases and dividends during the quarter, bringing cumulative payments through our capital return program to over $200 billion,” reported Maestri on the statement.

Regarding subscribers, Apple Music broke the 20 million subscriber mark back in December. Reportedly, Apple is now looking forward to stream video through Apple Music in the first half of 2017.

Reports suggest that 60 percent of all Apple Music subscribers have ceased to buy content from the iTunes Store in the last 12 months, which is good news for Apple and bad for artists that have struggled with the new music streaming services that showcase all of their material.

The $10 monthly subscription service would be eventually producing its own content, such as original TV shows and streaming popular series and movies. Apparently, the goal is to reach HBO status with high-quality series and movies.

Source: Apple

Categories: Technology
Daniel Francis: Guitarist, destroyer of worlds. Columnist at Ultimate-Guitar.com
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