Apple posts ‘best quarter ever’ despite dip in iPhone, China sales

Apple’s all-important holiday quarter was something of a mixed bag. For one, Apple posted what it called it’s “best quarter ever” with revenue of $124.3 billion, up 4 percent year over year. However, the iPhone stumbled a bit as sales in China took a tumble.

iPhone sales were down slightly to just over $69 billion and came in under estimates of $71 billion. CEO Tim Cook blamed some of the lower sales on the lack of Apple Intelligence in China, which suffered an 11 percent overall sales decline. Cook said a change in channel inventory was also partially to blame for the sales drop.

The biggest performers were the Mac, which posted a whopping 15 percent increase, and Services, which again grew to an all-time high of $26.3 billion in sales. Apple released new M4 Macs in the quarter, including a redesigned Mac mini and refreshed MacBook Pros.

iPad sales were also up, with more than $8 billion in sales for the first time Q1 2023. Apple released a new iPad mini in October and many Apple tablets were heavily discounted over the Black Friday and holiday shopping periods. Apple is rumored to be releasing a new entry-level iPad in the spring.

The Wearables category, which includes AirPods, Apple Watch, and HomePod, was mostly flat despite the launch of a new Apple Watch in September. 

Cook noted that Apple’s installed base of active devices reached a new all-time high.