iPhone sales continue to sharply decline, according to Apple’s earnings statement for its fiscal second quarter, though its stock and services business are up today.
Apple reported its second quarter financial results, posting quarterly revenue of $58 billion down 5 percent from the same quarter a year ago earnings per share of $2.46. The company said its crucially important services division hit an all-time high of $11.5 billion in revenue. iPhone revenue came in at $31.05 billion and was again down year over year, as were Mac sales. But the iPad, wearables/home/accessories, and services units of Apple’s business all saw gains.
“We delivered our strongest iPad growth in six years, and we are as excited as ever about our pipeline of innovative hardware, software and services,” CEO Tim Cook said in the accompanying press release. “We’re looking forward to sharing more with developers and customers at Apple’s 30th annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.”
Analysts had been projecting $57.4 billion in overall revenue (led by $30.5 billion in iPhone sales) and earnings per share of $2.37.
Apple noted that price drops in certain countries did help it see some recovery, so its declines were “significantly smaller later in the quarter,” according to CEO Tim Cook during today’s Apple earnings call.
Sadly, Apple no longer releases number for how many iPhone units it sells anymore. Its Mac sales saw a minor dip (Apple blamed on “processor constraints on certain models”), while iPad sales were up and its catch-all Wearables, Home and Accessories category saw a nice bump.
Today’s earnings update comes in the weeks after a string of product releases from Apple that included new models of AirPods, iPad Air, iPad mini, and the iMac desktop. The company’s Beats unit is nearing the release of its first true wireless earbuds, the Powerbeats Pro.
But Wall Street and investors have their attention fixed on Apple’s services more so than hardware right now. Last month, the company announced several new software initiatives including News Plus, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV Plus. The subscription news service, which bundles popular magazines with some newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, launched immediately for $9.99 per month.
However, Apple did not discussing pricing for the gaming offering, which will give subscribers access to a package of titles that are exclusive to Apple’s platforms, and Apple TV Plus, which will be home to the many original TV shows and movies that the company is pumping billions of dollars into creating. Both of those services are scheduled to launch sometime this fall, likely as part of iOS 13 and macOS 10.15. Apple will outline its plans for those major software updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and it’s expected that the company will push for developers to begin porting their iOS apps to Mac computers with new tools that will make it far easier to do so.
