After the announcement of the performance in the past quarter, there is, as always, a press conference in which the company discusses the figures and often provides further insights. Market observers also have the opportunity to ask CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh questions. In this constantly updated report, we summarize which topics are discussed, how Apple assesses the last quarter and how we assess the current market situation and future developments. Given the highest sales in the company’s history, the company can be optimistic about the situation.
- As usual, CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh will be accompanying you through today’s conference call
- In China in particular, Apple was able to make significant gains compared to the same quarter last year, with sales increasing by 37.9 percent. In Europe, Apple grew by 12.7 percent and in the USA by 11.2 percent
- The iPhone was primarily responsible for the high increase in sales in China
- Sales of the iPhone 17 were well above Apple’s internal forecasts, Cook said
- Apple has never made as much money with the iPhone as it did in the past quarter
- Apple increased revenue by 14 percent year-on-year across services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, etc
- Although Mac sales fell slightly, more people have never owned a Mac than they do now. In the same quarter last year, Apple introduced new MacBook Pro models with M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max and a new iMac – but in the past quarter only the entry-level MacBook Pro with M5
- iPad sales increased – and according to Cook, this is mainly due to buyers replacing an older model
- There are currently 2.5 billion Apple devices in use
- Cook says that the majority of users use Apple Intelligence on the iPhone – if the device supports Apple Intelligence
- Cook also addresses the Google deal regarding the next generation of Siri, because it will be based on Google Gemini
- Apple was able to increase viewership on Apple TV+ by 36 percent last year
- Since 2008, developers have turned over $550 billion in the App Store
- Apple also continues to be successful with Apple Music, as more customers have never used the service – unfortunately Apple does not provide exact figures here
- Cook emphasizes that the servers for Apple Intelligence are manufactured in the USA – and also mentions Apple’s efforts to build a chip manufacturing supply chain in the USA together with partners
- Across all products and services, Apple’s margin was 48.2 percent. Apple achieved a margin of 40.7 percent for hardware and 76.5 percent for services
- However, Apple had to accept cost increases because, according to CFO Parekh, costs for research and development increased significantly
- Nearly half of Mac buyers have never owned a Mac before
- Apple recorded customer satisfaction of 97 percent for the Mac, 98 percent for the iPad and 96 percent for the Apple Watch
- Apple earned 2 percent less from the wearables division – and, according to Parekh, this was due to delivery problems with the third generation AirPods Pro
- Apple currently has $145 billion in cash and $91 billion in debt
- For the coming quarter, Apple expects growth of 13 to 16 percent compared to the same quarter last year – and the margin should remain between 48 and 49 percent. However, Parekh makes this assessment assuming that economic conditions do not deteriorate
- For the current quarter, the significantly increased memory prices on the market due to long-term contracts are not yet reflected in Apple’s earnings – but Cook does not want to make an assessment in this regard for the following quarter
- Apple is still struggling to meet demand for the iPhone 17 due to delivery difficulties. According to Cook, Apple’s supply chain options here have become clouded because few companies offer the advanced manufacturing methods
- The iPad is the best-selling tablet in China and the Mac mini is the best-selling desktop PC
- When asked by an analyst which features of the iPhone 17 led to the significantly better than expected sales figures, Tim Cook unfortunately gave a very evasive answer and did not give a concrete answer
- An analyst asks how the Siri partnership with Google came about – and Cook replies that Google has the best foundation here with Gemini. Cook emphasizes that Apple Intelligence continues to run either on the device – or on Apple’s infrastructure, which is very much designed for data protection. Cook does not want to give exact details regarding the contracts with the search engine giant.
- Cook emphasizes once again that it is difficult to estimate the price development on the market, especially with regard to memory, for the current year – and therefore a forecast beyond the current quarter is hardly possible. However, there are still some possibilities to influence the prices – but Cook does not want to give details
- Cook says that when it comes to working with Google, one should speak of a collaboration rather than using Google technologies
- Cook once again emphasized to an analyst that the supply chain is currently more difficult to manage than usual – especially when sales figures are above forecasts, as with the iPhone 17. Cook is specifically referring to Apple’s processors in 3nm production, which can currently only be manufactured by TSMC
- Because the company develops its own processors and graphics cores, Apple has gigantic advantages on the market over its competitors, who are mostly dependent on third-party manufacturers
The conference call regarding the quarterly figures has now ended
