Apple has managed to grow its revenue to $53.3 billion in Q3 2018, showing an increase of 17 percent from the year-ago quarter, due to the costly iPhone X smartphone.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “Our Q3 results were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, Services and Wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline.”
The Cupertino, California company is aiming to achieve revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion with gross margin between 38 percent and 38.5 percent in the fourth fiscal quarter. It will launch new and innovative models to support the growth and retain its second position from Huawei.
Apple has generated revenue of $24.54 billion (+20 percent) from Americas, $12.13 billion (+14 percent) from Europe, $9.55 billion (+19 percent) from Greater China, $3.8 billion (+7 percent) from Japan and $3.16 billion (+16 percent) from Rest of Asia Pacific including India.
Apple’s quarter on quarter revenue performance was worst in all regions: –1 percent in the Americas, –12 percent in Europe, –27 percent in Greater China, –29 percent in Japan and –20 percent in Rest of Asia Pacific.
Apple sold 41.3 million iPhones in the fiscal third quarter, half a million less than expected, but the average iPhone selling price topped expectation by $30, hitting $724, according to FactSet.
Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters that customers were buying costlier models and the $999 iPhone X was the quarter’s best seller.
Apple said its Services revenue was $9.5 billion. The revenue included $236 million from resolving lawsuits such as Apple’s long-running dispute with Samsung Electronics, Reuters reported.
Tim Cook said Apple Music has more than 50 million users when free trials are counted and hinted at the company’s video content efforts. Apple has hired prominent television executives from Sony and started making deals for content such as a dramatic series with Hollywood stars Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.
Research firm IHS Markit said Apple shipment volume stayed flat, with just 0.7 percent growth, rising slightly to 41.3 million units. While Apple sold six iPhone models in the second quarter of 2017, this year the company sold nine models.
“However, this increase in the number of models didn’t contribute much to unit-shipment growth in the second quarter of 2018,” Gerrit Schneemann, senior research analyst, smartphones, IHS Markit, said.
iPhone revenue grew 20 percent indicating that higher-priced models continue to be popular. The decline in iPhone unit shipments between the first and second quarters of 2018 is similar to the decline during the same time frame last year.
Research firm Canalys said models such as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are losing steam, given a high sell-in in Q1. But an uptick in iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, helped in part by the Product Red campaign, was enough to offset this trend.
Canalys estimates that Apple shipped over 8 million iPhone Xs in Q2, down from 14 million in the previous quarter.
Canalys UK-based Senior Analyst Ben Stanton said: “While the iPhone X succeeded in generating volume in the previous quarters despite its hefty price tag, it has been unable to sustain that volume this quarter.”
IDC said Apple dropped to the third spot for the first time despite its second quarter growth. Apple iPhone continued to perform well at the high end as the iPhone X remains a top seller in many markets, Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said.
Competition among Apple, Samsung and Huawei for grabbing the $700 plus smartphone market is unlikely to change much in the short term. Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo are all slowly pushing their customer base upstream at a price tier slightly lower than the top three.
Baburajan K
