Apple reports record Q1 results; Quarterly Profit of $18.4 Billion

Analysts estimated that iPhone sales would be hurt by the lack of innovations in the 6s and 6s Plus, but it appears that market performance remained strong, possibly driven by previous models too.

CEO Tim Cook pointed to “the growth of our Services business”, which brought in $6bn over the quarter, and the company’s “major milestone of 1bn active devices” (across all of its products) as two highlights of the quarter. Seeing as the iPhone accounted for 68% of Apple’s revenue in the quarter, that lack of growth is notable. The company suggested that its sales during the first three months of 2016 will be $50-53 billion as compared to the estimates of $55.5 billion given by analysts.

The company also announced there’s a billion Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Apple TVs actively being used at this moment. It sold 16.1 million iPads, marking a 25 percent year-over-year slide from last year’s 21.4 million iPads sold.

Overall the company posted record quarterly revenue of US$75.9 billion and profit of US$18.4 billion, compared to revenue of US$74.6 billion and net income of US$18 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

He said that supply constraints in the fiscal first quarter of 2015 resulted in higher shipments in Q2 2015, as Apple caught up with demand, and that is not the case this year.

Despite these massive sales, Apple has forecast that revenue for the second quarter of 2016 will be lower than expectations as iPhone sales slow down.

The performances raise questions about what Apple will do to satisfy investors who want growth and consumers who want new, cutting-edge technology.

To underscore the point, Apple launched Apple Pay and Apple Music services on the Chinese mainland in 2015.

Apple has reported the slowest sales ever of its market-leading iPhone, after years of rocketing growth, but the tech giant still posted record quarterly profit. But it’s still a $20 billion drop, and one that might help refill that bucket if the iPhone’s era of growth truly is at an end.

China contributed close to 24.2 percent of total revenue with $18.37 billion revenue.