Huge Mac sales drive record-breaking earnings for Apple

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Apple Q4 2020 earnings: Mac sales (and services) drove revenues to record highs last quarter.
Mac sales (and services) drive Apple revenues to record highs once again.
Photo: Rachel Moenning/Unsplash CC

Apple pulled in more revenue last quarter than in any previous July-through-September period, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth came from sales of Mac and iPad, as well as revenue from services.

But iPhone revenue was down dramatically because of the delayed release of the iPhone 12 series. That hurt earnings significantly.

By the numbers

The company’s total revenue hit $64.7 billion, a 1% increase year-over-year. But overall income was down. It took in $12.7 billion in the July-through-September period. That’s a drop of 7% versus the same quarter a year ago.

Much of the good news came from Mac sales, which hit $9.0 billion, a jump of 29%. And the news is just as good for tablets, as iPad sales totaled $6.8 billion, a whopping 46% increase.

“Despite the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, Apple is in the midst of our most prolific product introduction period ever,” said CEO Tim Cook. Last quarter, the company released the iPad 8, which surely contributed to stellar revenue growth.

iPhone 12 delay hurt Apple’s quarterly earnings

But COVID-19 did have an effect on Apple earnings for the July-through-September period. It forced the company to delay the release of the iPhone 12 by a month. So the first rush of sales didn’t happen in the July quarter, but is delayed to the October one. The result is that iPhone revenue dropped 7% year-over-year, to $26.4 billion.

Still, Apple says the iPhone 12 is off to a strong start. “The early response to all our new products, led by our first 5G-enabled iPhone lineup, has been tremendously positive,” said Cook.

But this didn’t satisfy investors. Apple stock, which closed up $4.12 on Thursday before the earnings call, gave up the day’s gains (and then some) in after-hours trading.

Source: Apple

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