|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Apple is grappling with its most prolonged revenue decline in over two decades, marked by the fourth consecutive quarterly drop in sales. The tech giant reported a sales figure of $89.5 billion for the three months ending in September, reflecting a decrease of approximately half a billion dollars compared to the same period last year. This 12-month decline signifies the company’s lengthiest slump since 2001, just before the introduction of the iPod.
The downturn coincides with Apple facing a global decrease in smartphone sales and encountering challenges in China, one of its major markets. Recent reports suggest that Beijing has been pressuring government officials not to use iPhones amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, although the Chinese government denies an official ban. Concurrently, China’s slowing economy poses additional challenges.
Apple’s Chief, Tim Cook, made an unexpected visit to China this month amid reports of weaker-than-expected sales of the iPhone 15. Sales in China for the September quarter were $15 billion, down from $15.5 billion last year and falling short of the expected $17 billion. However, Cook noted that iPhone sales in China reached a record.
Globally, sales of Apple’s smartphones increased by 2% to $43.8 billion, supported by the launch of new iPhones towards the end of the quarter. Despite this, the company experienced a significant decline in Mac sales, with revenue dropping by a third to $7.6 billion. Apple unveiled a new range of computers in an online event recently.
Tim Cook expressed optimism, stating, “We now have our strongest lineup of products ever heading into the holiday season, including the iPhone 15 lineup and our first carbon-neutral Apple Watch models, a major milestone in our efforts to make all Apple products carbon neutral by 2030.” Profits rose by 10.8% to $22.9 billion in the quarter.
Shares experienced a decrease of just under one percentage point in after-hours trading. Earlier this year, Big Tech companies, including Apple, cut tens of thousands of jobs due to over-hiring during the pandemic, resulting in an overstaffed situation as the economy began to slow.
The iPhone 15, launched in September, faced challenges initially due to reported flaws causing some smartphones to overheat while charging. Apple attributed the overheating to a bug in the iOS 17 software and issued an update in October to address the problem. Despite the Mac sales decline, Cook anticipates a “significant acceleration” in Mac sales next year following the recent unveiling of a new range.
Read More: Dusk News Business