SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple emerged from its recent iPhone sales slump during the summer quarter. This is an early sign that the company’s recent efforts to revive demand for its marquee products through the introduction of artificial intelligence are working.
According to Apple’s fourth quarter report released Thursday, iPhone sales for the July-September period were $46.22 billion, an increase of 6% from a year earlier. This improvement resulted in two consecutive reversals. Decrease from previous year In iPhone quarterly sales.
Thanks to the iPhone’s strong performance, Apple achieved quarterly sales and profits that beat analysts’ expectations, excluding one-time charges of $10.2 billion, which shook investors. Recent decisions of the European Union Court of Justice As a result, the Cupertino, California company was billed for a large amount of unpaid taxes.
Apple’s profit was $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, down 36% from the same period last year. Without the one-time tax charge, Apple would have earned $1.64 a share, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.60 a share, FactSet Research said. Sales rose 6% year over year to $94.93 billion, beating analysts’ expectations by about $400 million.
But investors are clearly hoping for an even better quarter, with Apple suggesting that its October-December sales, which cover the holiday season, may not be as strong as analysts had expected. He seemed disappointed in the outlook. Apple shares fell about 2% in extended trading Thursday, with the stock hovering around $221, well below its mid-October high of about $237.
The latest quarterly results document the first few days since the products were available to consumers. New iPhone 16 lineup This included four different models designed to handle a variety of AI wizardry, which the company markets as “Apple Intelligence.” This branding is part of Apple’s efforts to differentiate its approach to AI from competitors such as: samsung and google This gave us a head start on bringing this technology to smartphones.
Even though the iPhone 16 was built specifically with AI in mind, the technology wasn’t made available until after Apple released it. Free software update earlier this week It enabled the first batch of tech tricks, including features designed to make virtual assistant Siri smarter, more versatile, and more colorful. And these improvements are only available in the US for now.
“This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts on a conference call Thursday.
Cook will expand the iPhone’s AI capabilities to other countries in December, as well as roll out other software updates that bring more technology to the iPhone 16 and two high-end iPhone 15 models with special features. He said he plans to do so. Computer chips needed for sophisticated new features. December’s expansion includes the option to connect to OpenAI’s ChatGPT to take advantage of technology that Apple hasn’t developed itself. even more languages
Investors are betting that if Apple’s AI becomes more widely available, hundreds of millions of consumers with older iPhones will be encouraged to upgrade to newer models to get the latest technology. There is.
“We believe this is a compelling reason to upgrade,” Cook asserted. But Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro said iPhone sales are already accelerating at a faster pace if consumers are captivated by Apple’s AI technology. We believe there will be increased pressure on the company to do a better job across the board.
