The financial results of any major company always generate anticipation, but when it comes to Apple, the interest multiplies. In the recent presentation of the fiscal third-quarter results for 2023, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, has revealed details about the company’s direction, advancements in Artificial Intelligence, records in the services area, and future plans for its products.
More benefits and better yields
Without going into too much detail, the report for this quarter covers several topics. Apple has seen a slight decrease in revenue compared to the previous year, from $83.0 billion to $81.8 billion. However, net profits increased, reaching $19.9 billion compared to $19.4 billion from the previous year. The gross margin was 44.5%, surpassing last year’s 43.3%. Undoubtedly, this is a demonstration of Apple’s resilience even in times of economic uncertainty. Tim Cook expressed it as follows:
“From education to the environment, we continue to progress in our values while championing innovation that enriches the lives of our customers and leaves the world better than we found it.”
The rise of services
“A notable detail that didn’t go unnoticed was the historic record in service revenues. Cook highlighted that this success is attributed to the impressive figure of over 1 billion active subscriptions.
The numbers speak for themselves: service revenues reached 21.2 billion dollars, surpassing last year’s 19.6 billion. As previously announced by Apple several months ago, the services division is becoming an essential pillar of the company’s revenues.”
Artificial Intelligence in the spotlight
Artificial intelligence may have been mentioned briefly in the conversation, but it didn’t go unnoticed. Tim Cook reaffirmed Apple’s commitment to this technology, describing it as “absolutely critical.” The CEO also mentioned that they have been researching AI, including generative AI, for years.
While there may be surprises in the development of Apple GPT, the company is not in the habit of revealing its plans or making announcements ahead of time, so we don’t really know what Apple may announce in the field of AI. However, Tim Cook made it clear that “responsibly, we will continue to evolve our products with this technology.”
Device sales: lights and shadows
iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales saw a slight decline in this quarter’s results. This is a usual trend in the period leading up to the launch of new iPhones, in this case, the iPhone 15. The numbers are expected to be significantly higher once the new iPhones are released. As a result, revenues decreased from $40.7 billion to $39.7 billion.
Regarding the iPad, which dropped from $7.2 billion to $5.8 billion, Apple attributes the comparative decrease to the launch of the new iPad Air about 12 months ago, which was a very attractive product in terms of price and capabilities, making it challenging to compare this quarter with the previous year.
As for the Mac, which declined from $7.4 billion to $6.8 billion, Apple mentioned that nearly half of the buyers are new to the category, indicating the interest that Apple computers are generating.
On the other hand, Wearables, which include the Apple Watch, increased from $8.1 billion to $8.3 billion. Interestingly, two-thirds of Apple Watch buyers are new customers in this category.
Although rumors suggest that significant updates for iPad or Mac won’t be seen until 2024, the company remains optimistic. Apple expects a gross margin of 44% to 45% for the next quarter, which Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, attributes to a favorable combination of products, cost savings, and attractive services.
Our next appointment with Apple’s financial results will be in January, following the launch of new iPhones, new Apple Watch models with more colors, new iPads, and most likely new Macs. All of this will be wrapped up in the holiday season’s excitement. In the meantime, knowing that the release date of the iPhone 15 is better than expected, there will be plenty to keep our attention.
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