Apple said sales for its fiscal second quarter ended April 1 fell 2.5 per cent to $94.8 billion, slightly ahead of expectations for a 4.4 per cent decline. Profit was flat at $1.52 per share, compared with estimates of $1.43.
Sales of Macs fell sharply while iPad revenue slipped. Sales in China also dropped 2.9 per cent, a slightly larger drop than overall revenue.
Mac sales fell more than 30 per cent compared with analyst estimates of a 25 per cent decline. Sales in Apple's wearables business, which includes devices like AirPods and the Apple Watch, fell less than a per cent compared with estimates for a 4.4 per cent drop.
One surprise was that iPhone sales were up 1.5 per cent to $51.3 billion, besting expectations for a 3.3 per cent drop. It was this figure that Apple CEO Tim Cook focused on, saying that it was partly due to picking up new users in markets such as India.
Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri warned Apple's revenue would likely decline slightly. This should worry analysts expecting this number to increase by 2.1 per cent to $84.7 billion for the company's June-end fiscal third quarter.
The Tame Apple Press tried to talk up how Apple's gross margin will be between 44 - 44.5 per cent, above estimates of 43.7 per cent, but this only means Apple’s business operations are healthy.
It also highlighted how Apple raised its dividend to 24 cents a share, up from 23 cents a share a year ago and authorised a $90 billion share repurchase programme, the same as a year ago.
Cook said supply-chain snarls have vanished and there were plenty of bits to put into Apple gear. But he pointed out that not all of Apple's business lines were immune to the electronics slump.
In more distractive reporting, the Tame Apple Press tried to use the figures to promote Apple’s mixed reality specs as if these were going to make a difference. Oddly they failed to mention about Jobs Mob’s savings accounts which really are an area where Apple could make cash.
Apple's biggest growth segment was its services business, which includes products like iCloud and Apple Pay, which grew 5.5 per cent to $20.9 billion. Cook said Apple now has 975 million subscribers on its platform, which includes both Apple services and third-party apps, up from 935 million last quarter and an increase of 150 million from a year ago.
