Apple again delivers fewer iPhones while revenue from services rises

Apple sees the decline in the number of iPhones delivered for the third consecutive quarter, although the decline is less strong than in the past two quarters. Apple sold 45.5 million iPhones, up from 48 million a year earlier. Service revenues increased by 24 percent.

In the past quarter, Apple delivered 5.2 percent fewer iPhones than a year earlier. In the previous two quarters this was still 15 and 16 percent less. The release of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus may have reduced the decline. The quarterly figures that Apple has published are about the results until September 24, the iPhone 7 models have been on sale since September 16.

The smartphone is the company’s largest source of income and the decline is reflected in the financial figures. Compared to the same quarter last year, turnover decreased by 9 percent to 46.9 billion dollars, converted around 43 billion euros. The drop in sales was the largest in China at 30 percent. In Europe and Japan, Apple saw sales grow by 3 and 10 percent.

While overall revenue declined, Apple cites the services category as a positive outlier. Revenue rose 24 percent to $6.3 billion. The company includes the App Store, Apple Care and Apple Pay under the category of services.

The number of iPads and Macs shipped also decreased from the same quarter last year. Apple delivered 9.27 million tablets, more than 6 percent less than a year earlier. A decrease is also visible in the delivery of Macs. 4.89 million units were delivered, which is a decrease of more than 14 percent.

Apple does not disclose any figures about the Apple Watch. The wearable is classified under the category ‘other’, along with percentages such as the Apple TV. In this category, sales fell 22 percent, which seems to indicate a decline in smartwatch shipments.

It is the first time since 2001 that Apple’s revenue for the entire financial year is lower than the previous year. In the fiscal year running from September 2015 to September 2016, the company had revenues of $215.6 billion. A year earlier, that was still 233.7 billion dollars. The quarterly profit came in at $9 billion; that’s 19 percent less than last year, but more than analysts had expected.

Apple has also released its expectations for next quarter’s figures. The Cupertino-based company expects to achieve record revenues of between $76 and 78 billion. That is more than in the comparable quarter a year earlier; Apple then had sales of $75.9 billion. The figures indicate that Apple expects to sell a lot of iPhone 7 devices during the holiday season.