Apple posts 7% revenue increase

However, Apple bucked its traditionally soft third quarter sales based on a surprise surge in iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Beats products, leading to a 23% increase on the same time past year.

Overall, it was a pretty ho hum quarter, at least compared to the kind of growth Google and Facebook have been able to report, but it was growth, nonetheless.

Apple doesn’t specify which of its service products are pulling in the most revenue, and some of them have faced challenges over the past year.

Apple is expected to overhaul its smartphone lineup in September as it marks the iPhone’s tenth anniversary.

In terms of specific numbers, iPhone sales are up 3.3 percent to $24.85 billion, amounting to 41.03 million or an increase of 1.5 percent.

The company sold 11.4 million iPads during the latest quarter, up 15% relative to past year.

A higher figure would suggest Apple is confident the new iPhones are on track to launch in September.

Apple’s net earnings grew to United States dollars 1.67 per share from USD 1.42 a year earlier, and the company maintained its quarterly dividend at 63 cents a share.

While we’re still awaiting an official launch date for the handset, many analysts had previously predicted Apple’s next handset would be delayed until October, November, or even 2018.

The Cupertino tech giant’s net income was up to $8.72 billion ($1.67 per share) from $7.80 billion ($1.42 per share) a year earlier.

Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said Apple’s App Store “was a major driver of this performance, and according to App Annie’s latest report it continues to be by a wide margin the prefered destination for customer purchases, generating almost twice the revenue of Google Play”. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $45.4 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.67.

The growth came thanks in part to product debuts at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, which should “extend [Apple’s] competitive lead this fall and well into the future”, CEO Tim Cook said during the quarterly earnings call on Tuesday.

The iPhone continues to be Apple’s main moneymaker. iPad sales have been on a long decline.

However, several analysts claim that the iPhone 8 could be the most expensive iPhone to be sold, but others say that it could become the model that surpasses previously held sales record held by previous-gen versions.

“The decline from a market standpoint was concentrated in Hong Kong, which is a place that has been really affected by a reduction in tourism because the Hong Kong Dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar”, Luca Maestri said.