Apple announced record sales for its fiscal first quarter to December, up 13 percent to USD 88.3 billion, beating the company's forecast of USD 84-87 billion. Quarterly earnings rose 16 percent to USD 3.89 per share, according Telecompaper. The company said its best quarter ever was supported by the highest sales ever from a new iPhone line-up. CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone X surpassed Apple's expectations and has been the company's top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November.
Total iPhone shipments were still down 1 percent from a year earlier to 77.316 million. However, the high price tag for the iPhone X helped lift revenues from the smartphones 13 percent year-on-year to USD 61.6 billion.
iPad sales were also up 6 percent from a year earlier to USD 5.9 billion, on 1 percent higher shipments of 13.170 million. Revenue growth was strongest from 'other' products, such as Apple TV, Beats headphones and the Apple Watch, which grew sales 36 percent to USD 5.5 billion, and services revenue rose 18 percent to USD 8.5 billion.
Cook said the company's installed base reached 1.3 billion users in January, an increase of 30 percent in two years, "which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers".
The company generated operating cash flow of USD 28.3 billion during the quarter and paid out USD 14.5 billion to shareholders through its capital return programme. Apple maintained its quarterly dividend at USD 0.63 per share.
For its fiscal second quarter, Apple forecast revenues of USD 60-62 billion, compared to USD 52.9 billion reported a year ago.
