Athira Sethu
Kochi, 31 January 2025
Apple reported revenues of $124.3 billion for the holiday quarter but could not boast much in sales growth, as its sales could not meet expectations of the markets. Especially, a strong competitive landscape for iPhones in China dented the market sentiment.
However, the company managed to reap $36.3 billion profit that CEO Tim Cook called its “best quarter ever.
Apple’s services and digital content segment led to the growth of its revenue, but iPhone sales declined in countries such as China. iPhone sales for the quarter stood at $69.1 billion, slightly below the same period last year’s $69.6 billion. Apple’s finance chief Kevan Parekh said the company’s healthy margins and all-time revenue had translated into record earnings per share.
Services include Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store, and Apple TV+, with a revenue of $26.3 billion, significantly up from $23.1 billion the previous year.
While Apple’s largest market, the Americas, raked in $56.2 billion, Europe was also booming with $33.9 billion. Tim Cook said that the company has yet to launch its new “Apple Intelligence” suite in China, which includes AI-powered photo editing, translation, and creative effects in messaging.
Despite the timid involvement in AI, the services and expanded ecosystems do help Apple to cope with the competition in China.
After receiving complaints from news outlets such as the BBC concerning inaccuracy, Apple had to temporarily disable one of its AI features last January; it was one that produced news headlines and summaries. Other tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, are also spending greatly on AI to keep up with its potential growth.
