Apple Enters The Services Era
iPhone sales may be down 9.2% but Apple's revenues are up 1.8%, largely thanks to services and wearables such as the Apple Watch and AirPods earbuds. On a side note, figures released by analysts at IHS Markit showed 1.2% growth in smartphone shipments last quarter—that's the first year-on-year growth in shipments since the first quarter of 2018, and Huawei seems to be the main driver, Fortune notes.
The tech giant reported revenue rose 1.8% in the September quarter to $64.04 billion, driven by rising sales of wearables including its smartwatch and services such as apps, streaming-music subscriptions and mobile payments. Those gains helped offset a 9.2% decline in iPhone sales, which have been falling for the past year.
Profit fell 3% to $13.69 billion. That topped expectations but marked the first time since Chief Executive Tim Cook took over in 2011 that Apple’s profit has declined in all four quarters of a fiscal year. The company’s operating expenses have risen considerably since 2017 when it introduced a pricier new iPhone with facial-recognition technology and increased its spending on research and development. Revenue and profit for the fiscal year through September both edged down, their first annual declines since 2016
Apple has moved into the services era, and iPhone sales cannot determine all the future of the company. I also see this as one reason the price of the iPhone will begin to drop since the more iPhones sold out there, the better for the growth of services.