Apple announces first-quarter results
For the first time in company history, Apple had 91.8 billion dollars of quarterly revenue. This number is 9% higher from the same quarter of 2019 and is also the company’s record, which had an impact in Apple stock. Per Tim Cook, the demand for iPhones was responsible for the record revenue.
“We are thrilled to report Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, fueled by strong demand for our iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models, and all-time records for Services and Wearables,” said Cook. “During the holiday quarter, our active installed base of devices grew in each of our geographic segments and has now reached over 1.5 billion. We see this as a powerful testament to the satisfaction, engagement and loyalty of our customers — and a great driver of our growth across the board.”
At the same time, Apple announced the expectations for fiscal 2020 next quarter. They expect that the revenue will stay between $63.0 billion and $67.0 billion, gross margin between 38% and 39% and a tax rate of approximately 16.5%.
Apple supplier to produce iPhone component in India
The Taiwanese Wistron Corp is planning to start producing printed circuit boards (PCBs) in their new plant in India, per Reuters analyst source. The PCB is a key item for iPhones since they can store components such as processors, wireless chipsets and memory. With all the components, the PCB holds about half of a smartphone price.
Even though the Indian government said that the PCBs taxing imports will rise to 20% next April, Wistron is still willing to move the production to the country. The plan for the Taiwanese company is to produce about 8 million smartphones per year, a part of an investment proposal of 30 billion rupees (approximately $422 million).
Smartwatches sales surpass Swiss watch industry
Yes, you are reading it right. According to Strategy Analytics estimation, Apple is now not only the best smartwatch-seller in the world but also the best watch-seller. By this report, Apple shipped approximately 31 million units in 2019, a 36% increase from last year. At the same time, the whole Swiss industry, which includes brands like TAG Heuer and Swatch, shipped 21.1 million, a 13% decrease in the same period. Even though Apple doesn’t clarify those sales in its quarterly earnings, that number was gathered from Strategy Analytics using the information of retailers and other vendors.
Stores closed in China due to coronavirus spread
Apple declared this week that, for safety concerns, all their official stores and corporate offices in China would be shut until February 9. The decision came after the Coronavirus cases increased in the country. For now, the number of cases is over 20,000 and it is still not showing any sign of a slowdown. The decision is not only from Apple since other companies such as McDonald’s and Starbucks decided to interrupt their services in China as a precautionary measure against the virus spread.
