On Friday 3 November Apple announced the financial results for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023, ended September 30, 2023.
The numbers are consistent with analysts’ forecasts. The Cupertino company reported quarterly revenue of $89.5 billion, down 1% year-over-year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.46, up 13% year-over-year.
Apple’s overall revenue is declining for the fourth consecutive quarter, and the length of the downturn is unmatched since 2001.
Apple quarterly 2023: net profit growing
Give us some technical data: the company’s quarterly net profit is growing, rising by 10% to 22.95 billion dollars. Or 1.46 dollars per share, against the 1.39 of the forecasts.
But Apple’s revenues, as we were saying, are declining. In the fiscal year, the company reported $383.3 billion in sales and $97 billion in net income. While in 2022 there were 394.3 billion dollars in sales and 99.8 billion dollars in net profit.
On the Apple website it is now possible to follow the press conference of November 2nd, in which the data for the fourth financial quarter are announced.
Apple revenue 2023
iPhones are good
Revenues smile on Apple when you look at iPhones, whose revenues set a record in the fourth quarter.
The figure is in fact $43.8 billion, compared to $42.6 billion in the same quarter of 2022. But Apple’s annual revenues from iPhone are down compared to 2022: $200.6 billion versus $205.5 billion last year.
The company said the iPhone has set revenue records in several developed and emerging markets, including India. And that the iPhone 15 sold better than the iPhone 14, despite limited supplies of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
Macs are in sharp decline
Unlike iPhones, there has been a sharp decline in Mac sales, as well as iPad sales. Sales in the Wearables, Home and Accessories sector also decreased in the fourth quarter.
As for Macs, quarterly revenue is $7.6 billion, down 34% compared to the same quarter of 2022 ($11.5 billion).
Apple’s revenue from Macs in 2023 was $29.4 billion, up from $40.2 billion in 2022.
The decline of iPads is predictable, since the company has not released new models this year. So annual revenues were 6.4 billion dollars compared to 7.1 billion last year.
Apple’s revenues from wearable devices amounted to $9.32 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, down slightly compared to the same period in 2022 (9.65 billion). And on an annual basis, 39.9 billion dollars in 2023 compared to 41.2 in 2022.
Apple and China
As the Wall Street Journal highlighted in an article published on November 3, Apple’s revenues are affected by the limitations imposed by the Chinese government on US technology.
Annual revenues in China amounted to 15.08 billion euros, down both compared to 2022 and compared to analysts’ forecasts (-2.5%).
According to the Wall Street Journal, “in a call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook vigorously defended Apple’s position, arguing that the iPhone appeared to gain market share in mainland China in the latest quarter and increase sales when the overall market seemed to be contracting.”
Tim Cook’s statement
Speaking of Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO expressed comforting words about the company’s fourth quarter revenues.
Cook said: “Today, Apple is pleased to announce record September quarter revenue for iPhone and an all-time revenue record for Services.
We now have our strongest product lineup yet this holiday season, including the iPhone 15 lineup and our first zero-carbon Apple Watch models, a major milestone in our efforts to make all Apple products carbon neutral. carbon by 2030.”
His words were followed by those of Luca Maestri, vice president and financial director of the Cupertino company. So Maestri: “Our active base of installed devices has once again reached an all-time high across all products and geographic segmentsthanks to the strength of our ecosystem and unparalleled customer loyalty.
During the September quarter, our business performance drove double-digit EPS growth and we returned nearly $25 billion to our shareholders while continuing to invest in our long-term growth plans.”