Strong iPhone, Mac sales push Apple to yet another record quarter

All eyes were on the tech world this week as Apple capped a string of disappointing results from Google, Meta, and Amazon. But Apple managed to buck the trend with another record-breaking quarter. For its fiscal fourth quarter, the company posted revenue of $90.1 billion, up 8 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.29, up 4 percent year over year.

The quarter was buoyed by its two biggest categories: the iPhone and Mac. Apple enjoyed an extra week of iPhone 14 sales thanks to an earlier release (though that didn’t include the new iPhone 14 Plus, which arrived October 7). Sales of the iPhone came in at just under $43 billion, an increase of 10 percent over last year, and Mac sales rebounded from a disappointing $7.2 billion last quarter to $11.5 billion in sales.

In the earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone posted a quarterly record of upgraders and double-digit switchers. He also noted that Mac sales posted all-time record revenue.

Wearables, which included early sales of the Apple Watch Series 8, also had a big month, with $9.7 billion in sales for an increase of about 10 percent over last year.

Here’s how the quarter ended for Apple:

• iPhone: $42.6 billion
• iPad: $7.2 billion
• Mac: $9.2 billion
• Wearables: $9.7 billion
• Services: $19.2 billion

While Services grew over last year, the category dipped from the previous quarter’s $19.7 billion. iPads also slumped, posting a 13 percent year-over-year drop.

Apple declined to post guidance for the fourth quarter, but CFO Luca Maestri warned that there would be a “deceleration” of growth. However, there are reasons to be hopeful. Last week, two new iPad models and an Apple TV 4K arrived, and Macs are expected to launch sometime next month. During the call, Cook pointed out that silicon-related supply constraints, which affected revenue in previous quarters, were “not significant in the September quarter.