iPhone lifts Apple to record revenue as pricey memory squeezes its margin
In its first quarterly report under chief executive John Ternus, Apple posts 114.5 billion dollars in revenue and expects a lower gross margin over the holidays.
Apple posted revenue of 114.5 billion dollars in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in late September, up 12 percent on a year earlier and a record for that period. Net profit rose to 30.7 billion dollars, MacRumors reports. The iPhone brought in 57.6 billion dollars, more than 17 percent higher, and the Mac and services grew as well. The iPad and the wearables division did decline. Revenue in Greater China rose 21 percent.
For the current quarter, Apple expects growth of 7 to 10 percent but a gross margin of 45 to 46 percent, compared with 47.9 percent in the quarter just ended. According to MacRumors' summary of the analyst call, Ternus described memory costs as unprecedented and expects prices to keep rising beyond December. Apple has already raised some prices, a decision chief operating officer Sabih Khan said was taken reluctantly, TechCrunch writes.
The foldable iPhone Duo remains scarce. Buyers who did not pre-order face delivery times stretching into next year, according to TechCrunch, and Khan would not predict when supply and demand will balance. Ternus also announced usage limits for AI features that run on Apple's servers, such as Siri AI, with the option to buy additional usage. Prices and details have not yet been announced.