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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly publication.
Apple on Thursday reported income of $124.3bn for its December quarter, beating analysts’ estimates in a Bloomberg ballot of $124.1bn and up 4 per cent from the identical interval within the earlier 12 months. iPhone sales have been $69.1bn, roughly flat year-on-year.
It marks the primary full quarter since Apple rolled out “Apple Intelligence”, its suite of synthetic intelligence options that embody a partnership with OpenAI.
Apple’s chief monetary officer Kevan Parekh advised the Monetary Occasions the corporate was “extremely optimistic in regards to the profound affect of AI”.
The efficiency of the AI-enabled iPhone 16 was stronger than in markets the place Apple Intelligence was not out there, he stated, suggesting Apple Intelligence has piqued the curiosity of shoppers.
Parekh stepped into the function this 12 months, taking on from Luca Maestri, who had been within the place for a decade.
Income for the China area, the place Apple has come underneath rising competitive pressure from native smartphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi, was $18.5bn, down about 11 per cent.
Apple’s companies enterprise, which incorporates the App Retailer, iCloud and Apple Pay, hit a file excessive, posting income of $26.3bn. Its iPad and MacBook merchandise additionally had double-digit progress.
Its total web revenue was $36.3bn, above estimates of $35.5bn. Diluted earnings per share have been $2.40, additionally above Wall Avenue expectations.
The results come as issues develop in regards to the affect of a possible sweeping new US tariff regime underneath President Donald Trump, who this week promised to impose tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductor producers. Apple’s provide chain depends closely on exporters in Asia.
Parekh declined to touch upon potential tariff dangers, saying the corporate was “carefully monitoring the scenario”.
Apple shares have been flat in after-hours buying and selling on Thursday, following every week of turbulence for tech shares, with a rout on Nvidia’s shares pushed by anxieties round AI breakthroughs by China’s DeepSeek.
Its shares have been insulated from the broader tech market rout, and the $600bn loss to Nvidia’s market capitalisation this week leaves the iPhone-maker as the world’s most respected firm, at about $3.6tn.
Forward of Apple’s earnings report, analysts had been downbeat about whether or not Apple Intelligence, with its staggered rollout that’s but to achieve non-English audio system, had supplied any significant increase to {hardware} sales within the shorter time period.
