iPhone group
Apple: AI helps iPhone sales
In the Christmas quarter, Apple traditionally does the biggest business. This time the new iPhones did not cause growth – but the interest in AI is confident about the group.
According to Apple, the new functions with artificial intelligence boost the iPhone sales. In the countries in which “Apple Intelligence” is already available, the new iPhone 16 sold better, said CEO Tim Cook after the presentation of fresh quarterly figures. At the same time, there was a record for the number of users who replaced their previous iPhones with new ones.
Apple dropped the traditionally lucrative Christmas quarter with a decline in the iPhone business. However, growth in Mac computers, iPads and in the service business ensured that the group sales increased to a record high. Apple customers now use 2.35 billion different devices from the group.
AI functions for Germany in April
Cook’s statements about the effect of “Apple Intelligence” also made the stock exchange more confident. The Apple share turned from the minus to an increase of around three percent in follow-up US trade. So far, Apple had started the AI functions in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Great Britain. Other countries – including Germany – are to follow in April.
One of the functions of “Apple Intelligence” includes that the software creates summaries of emails or short messages and improves texts. Users can also generate their own emoji with text specifications and remove disturbing objects in photos. Google as the developer of the rival smartphone system Android and manufacturer such as Samsung also offer more and more AI functions in their devices.
The iPhone remains by far the most important product. But the past quarter demonstrated how the group benefits from a wide range with various device categories.
The iPhone sales fell from $ 69.7 billion in the previous year to 69.14 billion. Analysts had expected an average of around $ 71 billion.
The Mac business, on the other hand, was much better than expected from Wall Street. Sales rose from 7.8 to $ 8.99 billion. Analysts had only expected almost eight billion dollars. There was also a significant increase in the iPad from seven to a good eight billion dollars. The service business with proceeds from the app store and Apple’s subscription offers grew from $ 23.1 billion a year ago to $ 26.34 billion.
Overall, the group turnover increased four percent to the record of $ 124.3 billion. The bottom line was that Apple increased the quarterly profit by seven percent to $ 36.3 billion (34.8 billion euros).
Questions about China business
In addition to the iPhone decline, a trigger for the initial minus on the share price could have been the weakening of the business in the China region. Sales there fell by eleven percent to $ 18.5 billion and missed the expectations of the analysts. Apple meets more competition in the huge market of Chinese smartphone providers. In a telephone conference with analysts, Cook also said that Apple hoped for a tailwind of economic measures in China.
dpa
Source: Stern
