The increase in iPhone sales is the first increase in over a year. The company did, however, report a revenue miss in the company’s increasingly important services business, which includes the new Apple TV+ streaming offering.
The number of active iPhones, computers and other devices owned by customers, what Apple call its installed base, was up 100 million to more than 1.5 billion. Apple also announced that it had set a new target of 600 million paid subscribers for music, TV, gaming and other services by the end of 2020.Growth in this space is seen as critical to the company's future - services are seen as being more lucrative for the business than hardware over the coming years.
Over the past year the company has slashed prices in China, one of its most important markets, in a bid to lift sales and has made a push into paid services, rolling out a credit card with Goldman Sachs and subscription gaming and television services.
Apple posted $92 billion in revenue for the last quarter, over $3 billion ahead of analyst forecasts, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The company is now forecasting $63- $67.billion in revenue for the quarter ending in March. It said that this 'wide range' was due, in part, to the uncertainty faced in its key market of China which is being caused by the growing impact of the coronavirus that could affect future demand.
Slightly disappointing was the fact that services revenue of $12.7 billion came in below estimates of $13 billion, but it was well up on the $10.9 billion reported a year ago with growth of over 17 percent.
Sales of .the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models have driven growth with iPhone sales of $55.96 billion, ending a year long decline. This figure was around $4 billion ahead of market forecasts.
Apple’s wearables segment – which, along with AirPods, also includes the Apple Watch – hit $10.0 billion in revenue versus estimates of $9.5 billion, up from $7.3 billion last year.
