Apple beat Wall Street expectations and market trends by reporting increased iPhone sales in its second-quarter results.
Both revenue and profits exceeded investor expectations as it sold a record number of iPhones for the second quarter of its financial year.
Sales for the year ended April 1 fell overall, but significantly less than expected, by 2.5% to $94.84 billion (£75.42 billion), better than expected decline of 4.4% to $93 billion (£73.96 billion).
Sales of the iconic Apple product were expected to decline as cost-of-living pressures and higher interest rates weigh on customer wallets and demand has been depressed following increased electronics purchases in the pandemic era.
Instead, it saw a 1.5% increase in Apple’s iPhone revenue despite an expected decline of more than 3%. The increase came, Chief Executive Tim Cook said, thanks to three countries.
“We set records for the installed base of iPhones in every geographic segment and had a very large number of ‘new customers’ [sales in] emerging markets, especially in Brazil, India and Mexico”.
“We were thrilled with our performance in emerging markets,” Cook told Reuters. Mr. Cook was recently in India to open the first Apple stores in the country.
There are over a billion iPhones in active use, Apple’s investor conference call has heard.
Some Apple products, however, have succumbed to the downward trend in electronics sales. Apple’s Mac laptop sales are down 30% and iPad revenue is down.
Sales of wearables, such as Apple Watches and AirPods, fell by just one percentage point.
Sales in China were also down nearly 3% to $17.8bn (£14.15bn).
Apple earned $24.16bn (£19.21bn) in January, February and March, equivalent to $1.52 (£1.20) per share. It is down slightly from $25bn (£19.88bn) a year ago.
Supply chain issues they’ve had previously persecuted disappeared production. Cook said there were no material shortages during the three months.
Apple was just the latest tech giant to report better than expected results. Technology stocks have driven increases in the S&P 500 index of the largest companies listed on US stock exchanges.
Shares of the company rose 2% in after-hours trading following the announcement.
