Apple Expects Strong Holiday Quarter On Services, Wearables and iPhones
Apple on Wednesday forecast high sales for the holiday shopping quarter as sales of the iPhone 11 models, of AirPods, Apple Watches and streaming services continue to rise.
Half of Apple's revenue and profit still depends on the Phone sales, and the company's CEO Tim Cook is trying to change that toward a broader product and services mix.
Apple expects $85.5 billion to $89.5 billion in sales for its fiscal first quarter that ends in December.
Cook said that the revenue guidance was based on strong sales of services and wearables, as well as promising early sales for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max released last month. He also expects that the United States and China will resolve their trade dispute.
The latest iPhones and Apple Watch went on sale on Sept. 20 and the quarter ended on Sept. 28, so Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter results included some early sales of these devices.
Apple reported fourth-quarter sales of $64 billion, up 1.8% from a year earlier. Net income was $13.7 billion, versus $14.1 billion in the same period last year.
The company said it generated $33.36 billion in iPhone sales for its fiscal fourth quarter ended in September.
The Wearables, Home, and Accessories segment, which includes the Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, Apple TV, and Beats headphones, generated $6.5 billion in revenue, an increase of 54%.
This quarter, revenue from Apple's services division jumped 18% from a year earlier. In the fiscal third quarter sales rose 13%.
Apple Arcade, the company’s video game service, launched on Sept. 19 with a one month free trial, so Apple did not generate any revenue from the $4.99-a-month offering in the fiscal fourth quarter. Apple TV+ launches Nov. 1, while the Apple Card and Apple News+ launched earlier this year.
Apple said it generated $7 billion in revenue from the Mac segment.