iPhones remain Apple, Even in a Tough Economy

Apple announced record iPhone sales for the March quarter, generating $51.3bn in revenue. The tech giant disclosed that there are now over 1 billion active iPhone devices, with iPhone sales predicted to keep growing as the iPhone 15 lineup is likely to be released this autumn. This new range of iPhones is rumoured to come with a USB-C port, the Dynamic Island, additional RAM in the iPhone 15 Pro, a periscope-style telephoto lens on the Pro Max, and the new iPhone 15 Ultra.

Apple’s services, which include Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and the App Store, had a record quarterly revenue of $20.9bn. Although Apple does not disclose the exact contributions of each service to this record number, it did reveal that there are 975 million paid subscriptions for services.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that he was pleased with the all-time record in services and March quarter record for iPhone, despite the difficult macroeconomic environment. The firm’s total quarterly revenue was $94.8bn, down 3% year over year, but impressive given the challenging conditions of the pandemic.

Apple is also making significant progress towards its target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The tech giant has its Worldwide Developers Conference scheduled for 5 June, where it is expected to announce its AR/VR headset and display the next version of its iPhone operating system, iOS 17. It is rumoured that iOS 17 will come with the ability to sideload apps on the iPhone, while the AR/VR headset is similar to the Quest Pro from Facebook’s Meta and is expected to be launched in summer or autumn.