Apple announced its earnings for Q1 2016 on Tuesday, and despite it being the company’s biggest quarter to date with $75.9 billion in revenue, it wasn’t all good news. To make the results easy to understand, here are the 10 most important facts you should know.
1. iPhone
The holiday quarter is always a big one for iPhone sales, and last year’s was no different, with Apple selling a whopping 74.7 million units. Despite this, the company still missed Wall Street’s expectations of 75.4 million units, and Tim Cook warned the worst is yet to come.
2. Sales to decline
Apple actually expects to see a year-over-year decline in iPhone sales next quarter, which would be the first since iPhone made its debut in 2007. As a result, it is predicting revenue of between $50 and $53 billion, down from $58 billion in Q2 2015.
Cook is optimistic that sales will will up later this year, however, with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus likely to arrive around September with major improvements, including new designs, faster internals, and new features like wireless charging.
3. iPad
Unsurprisingly, the iPad business continued to see a decline, despite the launch of iPad Pro late last year. Apple shifted just 16.1 million units in Q1 2016, down from 21.4 million units in Q1 2015. Apple did not release a new iPad Air, however, and recent rumors have claimed an iPad Air 3 will arrive in March alongside the new 4-inch iPhone — which could boost sales somewhat.
4. Mac
Despite recent reports claiming that the Mac business is growing while worldwide PC sales fall, Apple was still unable to sell quite as many units as it did during Q1 2015. There wasn’t a big decline, however, with 5.3 million units sold last quarter down from 5.5 million the year before. Perhaps new MacBooks, which are expected to arrive before June, can provide a nice boost.
5. Apple Watch
Once again, Apple refused to tell us exactly how many Apple Watches it sold last quarter for “competitive reasons,” but the company seems to be very pleased with its performance so far. Consumers spend “billions” on the Cupertino company’s first wearable last quarter, Cook said. That could be thanks to the many Apple Watch discounts we saw over Christmas.
6. Apple TV
Apple TV was also a big success over the festive period, with the new model — complete with its very own tvOS App Store and Siri Remote — selling incredibly well, despite being more expensive than its predecessors. The device has also been a big hit with developers, with more than 36,000 apps now available for Apple TV.
7. Over 1 billion active Apple devices
More than 1 billion Apple devices — including iPhones, iPads, iPods, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and Macs — are now active and in use around the world, Cook confirmed. By “active,” that means they’ve interacted with Apple’s services within the last three months.
Apple confirmed last year that it had sold its 1 billion iOS device, but of course, that will have included old devices that people are no longer using. To have 1 billion in use is pretty astonishing, and it’s no wonder why Apple’s services — such as the App Store — go from strength to strength.
8. Currency fluctuations
When you rake in as much revenue as Apple does, currency fluctuations can have a big impact. Thanks to constant changes worldwide last quarter, Apple’s overall revenue took an 8 percent hit. The company did try to keep up by altering its prices in many markets last year, but of course, you can only do this so many times before upsetting consumers.
9. Apple’s cash pile
Thanks in part to its biggest quarter ever, which saw Apple collect $18.4 billion in profit, the company now has around $216 billion cash on hand. That’s up from $206 billion last quarter, and it gives Apple more than twice as much cash as any of its rivals have.
“Our financial position has never been stronger,” Cook said.
10. Apple meets its own expectations
It may have fallen short of Wall Street’s expectations, which in turn will cause its share price to tumble yet again, but Apple did (just about) meet its own predictions last quarter, which is always good news.
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