To listen to Apple’s Q2 earnings call is to get inundated with numbers. But the stockholder looking for a set of numbers giving them a reason to buy more shares should consider the rise of new Apple customers.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri delivered the usual dry intro into quarterly reports: the ups, downs, gross margins, basis points and other wonky indicators important to analysts listening in.
It was in his next breath where Maestri provided “color” that explained Apple’s optimism in the road ahead. There was double-digit growth in services, subscriptions and a blockbuster quarter for both the iPad and wearables, particularly, the Apple Watch Series 4.
And while it was strange to hear an earnings report without the number of units shipped, it was striking to hear percentages of new customers for Apple products.
New Apple customers spring optimism
“Customer engagement in our ecosystem continues to grow,” Maestri said. Here is how Maestri explained it:
Mac: “On a global basis, nearly half of the customers purchasing Macs during the quarter were new to Mac, and the active installed base of Macs reached a new all-time high.”
iPad: “iPad revenue grew in all five of our geographic segments, with a return to growth in Greater China and strong double-digit growth in all other segments. We had our best March quarter ever for iPad in Japan, and we were especially pleased by performance in Korea, Thailand, and Mexico, where revenue more than doubled over last year. In total, over half of the customers purchasing iPads during the March quarter were new to iPad and the iPad active installed base also reached a new all-time high.”
Apple Watch: “Wearables, home and accessories revenue set a new March quarter revenue record at 5.1 billion, fueled primarily by the strong performance of our wearables business, which grew close to 50 percent. Within this category, Apple Watch is the best selling and most loved smartwatch in the world and produced its best results ever for a non-holiday quarter. It’s reaching many new customers, with three-quarters of purchases going to customers who have never owned an Apple Watch before.”
AirPods: No mention of new customers, but Maestri said, “Interest in AirPods has been off the charts and we working hard to catch up with the incredible customer demand.”
There are also indications of Apple users reaching further into the ecosystem with promising numbers in subscriptions and Apple pay adoption.
