Apple’s revenue fell 5 percent year-on-year last quarter. For the first time since 2016, Apple fell short of Wall Street earnings forecasts, Reuters reports.
Apple sold iPhones for just under $66 billion, $6 billion less than in the same quarter a year earlier, a drop of 8 percent. The profit amounted to 30 billion, compared to 34.6 billion a year earlier.
Revolt in Chinese factory
Apple suffered manufacturing problems last quarter. This was caused by the corona lockdowns in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, where the largest iPhone factory is located. At that complex of supplier Foxconn, there was a revolt of the staff, some of whom decided to return home.
As a result, fewer copies of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max were assembled. Those are the most expensive two of the four iPhone 14 models.
‘Production and demand recovered’
Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Reuters that production is “back to the target level”. China’s corona lockdowns also lowered demand for Apple products in the country, Cook says. Sales in China fell by 7 percent. According to Cook, demand from Chinese consumers picked up again in December.
Sales fell the most in Europe. There, the Apple products were considerably more expensive due to the expensive dollar. According to Cook, sales would have increased if currency fluctuations had not had an impact.
2 billion active devices
Mac computers saw a 29 percent drop in sales. In the wearables and accessories category, which includes the Apple Watch and AirPods, the decrease was 8 percent.
iPad sales increased by 30 percent. According to Cook, this was partly due to the new iPads that were launched in October. Revenue from services, such as Apple TV+ and the App Store, grew by 6 percent.
There are now 2 billion active Apple devices, compared to 1.8 billion a year ago. Apple customers also have 935 million subscriptions, 35 million more than in the previous quarter.
Apple only launched the new Macs and the new HomePod in the current quarter.
