Apple’s second-largest business segment set a new all-time record for quarterly revenue
Apple’s second-largest segment set an all-time record for revenue. Services grossed $22.31 billion during the fiscal fourth quarter, a fine 16.3% increase. For fiscal 2023, Services brought in $85.20 billion, 9% higher than the $78.13 billion that the unit took in during fiscal 2022. It wasn’t so long ago that Apple had set a goal to achieve $50 billion in annual sales for the Services unit.
The App Store is part of the record-breaking Services unit
Sales of the iPad tablet series declined 10.2% from $7.17 billion during the fiscal fourth quarter of 2022 to $6.44 billion during the fiscal fourth quarter of this year. Annual gross for the iPad during fiscal 2023 amounted to $28.30 billion, off 3.4% from fiscal 2022’s $29.29 billion. The end of the pandemic has reduced demand for tablets such as the iPad with many adults no longer working from home, and kids heading back to school. During the peak of the COVID scare, many depended on the device for work and play.
During the July-September period, sales in the Americas rose slightly to $40.12 billion from $39.81 billion last year. Sales declined year-over-year in all other regions including Europe, Greater China, Japan, and the Rest of Asia Pacific. The only region that had higher revenue for the entire fiscal year was the latter with a small gain from last year’s $29.38 billion to this year’s $29.62 billion.
The report led sellers to dump Apple’s shares in after-hours trading
If you’re wondering how Apple could have lower net income for fiscal year 2023 but show a higher earnings per share figure, the answer is that the company had fewer shares outstanding this year thanks to share buybacks.
Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, stated, “Our active installed base of devices has again reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments, thanks to the strength of our ecosystem and unparalleled customer loyalty. During the September quarter, our business performance drove double-digit EPS growth and we returned nearly $25 billion to our shareholders, while continuing to invest in our long-term growth plans.”
Despite the strong numbers generated by the iPhone and the Services unit, Apple’s shares have declined in after-hours trading following the release of the report. After rising $3.60 or 2.07% today to $177.57 during regular trading, Apple’s shares plunged $6.22 or 3.50% to $171.35 in after-hours trading.
