Lower Apple iPhone sales lead to miss in revenue estimate

Apple on Thursday reported a steeper sales decline in its holiday period than Wall Street feared, showing the toll of an economic slowdown and lingering supply problems.

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter amounted to $117.2 billion, the company said, lower than projections of about $121.1 billion. Shares fell in extended trading. Demand for smartphones and computers has slumped in the past year, and Covid-19 restrictions in China added to Apple’s woes during the holiday sales period.

Apple generated $65.8 billion from its flagship iPhone, missing the estimate of $68.3 billion. The numbers also represent a decline in the $71.6 billion that the product brought in a year earlier.

While the latest iPhone was a more significant leap than the previous version, the factories producing the popular Pro models in China were closed for several weeks during the quarter due to pandemic restrictions.

And worldwide smartphone shipments declined 18.3 per cent year on year to 300.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the International Data Corporation.

Chief executive Tim Cook spoke of a “challenging environment” in the company statement.
The company made $7.74 billion from the Mac, well short of the $9.7 billion estimate and a significant drop from $10.9 billion a year ago.

Timing was another problem. The company did not launch new Macs and HomePods until recent weeks, missing the end of the first quarter. “We remain focused on the long term,” Mr Cook said.

The Cupertino, California technology giant did not provide a revenue outlook for the second quarter, continuing an approach it adopted at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.