Apple released its fiscal third-quarter results, beating Wall Street’s sales and profit targets. However, despite this positive performance, the company’s shares dropped about 2% due to concerns over a continuing sales slump. Apple forecasted a potential fourth consecutive quarter of declining sales, partly driven by weaker than expected iPhone sales, which disappointed investors.
While Apple’s services segment, including Apple TV+ and sales in China, showed strength, the company faces a challenging situation with its iPhone competing against Android rivals in a mature market. Moreover, its highly anticipated next big product, the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset announced in June, is yet to reach consumers.
The fiscal third-quarter sales reached $81.8 billion, and earnings per share rose to $1.26, surpassing analyst expectations. However, the outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter is conservative, with Apple expecting a year-over-year revenue performance similar to the drop reported in the third quarter.
Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, stated that the company’s research and development spending has increased, particularly in the field of generative artificial intelligence. The company remains committed to investing in and advancing products using AI technologies.
Despite the overall smartphone market’s decline in China, Apple’s iPhone sales in the country grew by “double digits,” and the company saw strong performance in other segments as well. The Greater China region’s sales reached $15.76 billion.
Apple continues to face challenges due to a slowdown in smartphone market growth, but it strives to innovate and leverage AI technologies to enrich users’ lives. The company’s services segment and wearables business, which includes the Apple Watch and AirPods, showed strong results, with 1 billion subscribers now on its platform.
Looking ahead, investors are eagerly awaiting any potential announcements related to the Vision Pro or AI technologies that could further drive Apple’s business model.
