Earlier today, Apple reported a blowout fiscal first quarter with double-digit revenue gains for all major products. The Apple iPad led the way with a stunning 41% year-over-year increase in revenue. The tablet can thank the pandemic for the increased demand as businessmen have turned to the device to work from home. At the same time, school-age children and teens are using the slate for distance learning and entertainment.
Apple iPhone sales rose 17% during the quarter. During the conference call that Apple held after releasing the earnings report, CEO Tim Cook said that more people upgraded their iPhone during the fiscal first quarter of 2021 than in any other previous quarter in the history of the device. The executive said that sales were skewed toward the “Pro” models of the four handset line. Cook said that the iPhone’s installed base is now up to 1 billion units. The good news for Apple, according to its CEO, is that there is plenty of room for iPhone sales to grow. In a line that you’ll never hear in an iPhone commercial, Cook said, “everybody doesn’t have an iPhone.”
Interest in owning a 5G iPhone apparently was one of the reasons for the strong growth in iPhone revenue from October through the end of December. The latest generation in wireless connectivity was also responsible for the strong 57% gain in revenue generated by purchases made in the Greater China region. Not all of that revenue is attributable to iPhone purchases, however.
We can now update investors’ reaction to the earnings report, which was as much as a perfect storm for Apple as possible. Despite the strength in the numbers, investors at first showed very little reaction to the report in after hours trading. However, at 10:30 pm ET, we now see that Apple has declined by $4.63 or 3.26% to $137.43 in after hours transactions..
