Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that the company has marked another quarter revenue record in the country by registering strong double-digit growth in the December quarter. Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2024 first quarter ended December 30 where it posted quarterly revenue of $119.6 billion, up 2 per cent year over year.
Cook highlighted December quarter records in India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Chile. Responding to an analyst questions, Cook multiple times referenced that India grew in revenue terms, strong double digits in the December quarter and “hit a quarter revenue record”.
India’s smartphone shipments remained flat in 2023 at 152 million units, but Apple surpassed the 10-million-unit mark in shipments and capturing the top position in revenue in a calendar year for the first time.
“For Apple, the opening of own retail stores and increasing focus on LFR (large-format retail) through regular promotions contributed to increased offline shipments. Besides, higher trade-in values presented an appealing proposition for consumers to transition to iOS,” said Counterpoint research analyst Shubham Singh.
During the earnings call, Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, highlighted Zoho, a leading SaaS technology company headquartered in India, offering its 15,000-plus global employees a choice of devices, with 80 per cent of their workforce using iPhone for work and nearly two-thirds of them choosing Mac as their primary computer.
“Apple is reporting revenue growth for the December quarter fueled by iPhone sales, and an all-time revenue record in Services,” said Cook.
“We are pleased to announce that our installed base of active devices has now surpassed 2.2 billion, reaching an all-time high across all products and geographic segments,” he said in a statement late on Thursday. During the quarter, Apple generated nearly $40 billion of operating cash flow, and returned almost $27 billion to its shareholders.
“We are confident in our future, and continue to make significant investments across our business to support our long-term growth plans,” said Maestri. (with inputs from IANS)
