Apple posts record Q4 revenue, makes strides in India

Apple announced the financial results of the fourth quarter ending September 28, 2019.

Cupertino-based technology major has reportedly registered a record-breaking revenue, driven majorly by services and wearable segments. It posted $64 billion revenue, the highest Q4 results to date.

Apple reached a new all-time high for services, with growth increasing by $1.9 billion. Also, it recorded 50% revenue growth from wearables and the interesting thing to note is that the revenue improved in each and every market Apple tracks including India.

For services, revenue was $12.5 billion, 18% up over the last year's $10.60 billion. It broke the previous record set in the June quarter by more than a billion dollars. It was just not the US alone, the revenue growth was registered in all five of our geographic segments, Tim Cook, CEO, Apple said in the opening remarks during the financial results announcement.

This comes ahead of the company's Apple TV+ multimedia streaming service($4.99/month in the US; Rs 99/month in India) launch on November 1, which expected to further add to the services revenue in the holiday quarter.

Read | iPhone 11 review: The go-to Apple mobile of 2019

Recently, the company launched the Apple Arcade service (subscription price same as the Apple TV+ ), which offers an exclusive and ad-free gaming platform for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, and Apple TV users, who can also play offline as well.

If things go as planned, Apple expects to reach the target of $50 billion in gross Services revenue by fiscal 2020.

Apple TV+ service (Picture credit: Apple)

Apple records positive revenue growth in iPads and Mac PCs

With iPad, Apple generated 17 % growth driven by iPad Pro and also other variants in the portfolio which includes, iPad Air, a generic iPad, and iPad mini-series, covering multiple price points to match the budgeting needs of the consumer.

On the other hand, Apple, despite the slowing PC market, was able to record $7 billion in revenue. "We had a tough comparison to last year's fourth quarter when we updated both models of MacBook Pro, but for fiscal 2019, overall, we generated the highest annual revenue ever from our Mac business," Cook said.

However, Apple iPhone sales despite registering $33 billion revenue, saw a 9% decline compared to the previous year the same period. On the bright side, the recently launched iPhone 11 series, on the back of positive reviews from tech critics and overwhelming consumer interest, was able to turn the tides, to an extent. Apple had suffered a 15% decline in the last three quarters.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro (DH Photo/Rohit KVN)

Apple iPhone sales are expected to pick up speed in the upcoming holiday season, as significant number of the iPhone 6, 7 series owners are more likely to upgrade their old devices to the new popular iPhone 11 series, which come with advanced camera hardware with low-light photography features, long-lasting battery life, and A13 Bionic, which is said to be the most powerful chipset for a mobile in the industry.

Read | Apple iPhone 11 Pro review: Ultimate camera champion

Apple makes strides in India
Tim Cook said that the locally relevant pricing has greatly helped Apple make strides in emerging markets including India.

Apple Watch Series 5 (DH Photo/Rohit KVN)

Apple, without revealing the numbers, has said that it has registered all-time high revenue from smart wearables in India. Recently, Apple released ECG (Electrocardiogram) app for Watch Series 4 and 5 in India. Also, IRN (Irregular Rhythm Notification) feature to track heartbeat rhythm was also released to all the Apple Watch series with the watchOS 6 (for Series 5, 4 & 3) and watchOS 6.1 (for Series 1 & 2) updates.

Must Read | Apple Watch Series 5 Review

Furthermore, Apple specifically mentioned that the company recorded all-time high revenue from Mac series sales in India.

In addition to iPhone 6S and the iPhone 7 series (by Westron Corp in Bengaluru), Apple has started local assembling of the iPhone XR at the Foxconn unit in Chennai. It has one of the best selling high-end mobile (above Rs 30,000 price range) in the country in late 2018 and in 2019.

Read more | Apple iPhone 'Assembled in India' hits stores

Over-all, Apple has garnered positive revenue growth in India compared to the previous year.

Here is Apple's guidance for the company's fiscal 2020 first-quarter expectations:
Revenue between $85.5 billion and $89.5 billion
Gross margin between 37.5 percent and 38.5 percent
Operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.8 billion
Other income/(expense) of $200 million