Earns Apple. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Apple got out of a recent iPhone sales slump in its summer quarter. This is an early sign that its efforts to revive demand for its marquee product by infusing artificial intelligence are paying off. iPhone sales totaled $46.22 billion for the July-September period, a 6% increase from last year. This improvement reversed two consecutive year-over-year declines in iPhone quarterly sales. The boost in iPhone sales helped Apple deliver total quarterly revenue and profit that exceeded analyst projections that sway investors. Excluding a one-time charge of $10.2 billion for a recent European Union court decision that billed the Cupertino, California company for back taxes.
Apple earned $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, a 36% decrease from last year. Excluding the one-time tax hit, Apple said it would have earned $1.64 per share, topping the $1.60 per share predicted by analysts according to FactSet Research. Revenue rose 6% to $94.93 billion, about $400 million more than analysts forecast. However, investors seemed to hope for an even better quarter and were disappointed by Apple’s forecast that implied its revenue for the October-December quarter covering the holiday shopping season might not grow as robustly as analysts envisioned. Apple’s stock price shed about 2% in Thursday’s extended trading, leaving the shares hovering around $221, well below their peak of about $237 in mid-October. The latest quarterly results included the first few days when consumers could buy the new iPhone 16 line-up with four different models designed for various AI wizardry marketed as “Apple Intelligence.”
The branding is part of Apple’s effort to distinguish its approach to AI from rivals like Samsung and Google that got a head start on bringing the technology to smartphones. Even though the iPhone 16 was specifically built with AI in mind, the technology became available only after Apple released a free software update earlier this week, activating its first batch of technological tricks. This includes a feature designed to make its virtual assistant Siri smarter, more versatile, and more colorful. Currently, those improvements are only available in the U.S. Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during a Thursday conference call that ‘This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do.’ Cook said plans to expand the AI iPhone features into other countries in December and roll out other software updates that will inject even more of the technology into the iPhone 16 and two high-end iPhone 15 models that are also equipped with the special computer chips needed for the slick new features.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple has ended its recent iPhone sales slump during the summer quarter. This is an early indication that its efforts to revive demand for its marquee product by infusing artificial intelligence are paying off.
Sales of the iPhone totaled $46.22 billion for the July-September period, a 6% increase from last year. This improvement reversed two consecutive year-over-year declines in the iPhone’s quarterly sales. The boost in iPhone sales helped Apple deliver total quarterly revenue and profit that exceeded analyst projections, excluding a one-time charge of $10.2 billion due to a recent European Union court decision for back taxes.Apple reported a 36% decrease in earnings, amounting to $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, compared to the same period last year. However, excluding a one-time tax impact, Apple would have earned $1.64 per share, surpassing analyst predictions of $1.60 per share as per FactSet Research.
Revenue saw a 6% increase from the previous year, reaching $94.93 billion, which is approximately $400 million more than what analysts had forecasted. Despite this, investors seemed to anticipate an even stronger quarter and were disappointed by Apple’s forecast suggesting that the revenue for the October-December quarter might not grow as expected during the holiday shopping season. Apple’s stock price fell by about 2% in extended trading on Thursday, with shares trading around $221, significantly lower than the peak of approximately $237 reached in mid-October. The latest quarterly results included the initial sales of the new iPhone 16 lineup, which features four models with various AI capabilities marketed by Apple as ‘Apple Intelligence.’The branding is part of Apple’s effort to distinguish its approach to AI from rivals like Samsung and Google that had a head start in bringing the technology to smartphones. Although the iPhone 16 was specifically designed with AI in mind, the technology became available only after Apple released a free software update earlier this week, activating its first batch of technological tricks. This includes a feature to make its virtual assistant Siri smarter, more versatile, and more colorful. Currently, those improvements are only available in the U.S. ‘This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do,’ Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during a Thursday conference call. Cook said plans are to expand the AI iPhone features to other countries in December and roll out other software updates that will inject even more of the technology into the iPhone 16 and two high-end iPhone 15 models, which are also equipped with the special computer chips needed for the slick new features.
Apple sold $46 billion worth of iPhones over the summer. As AI helps end the slump. The December expansion will include an option to connect with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to take advantage of technology that Apple isn’t making on its own. More languages. Investors are betting that as Apple’s AI becomes more broadly available, it will prompt the hundreds of millions of consumers who are using older iPhones to upgrade to newer models in order to get their hands on the latest technology. “We believe it’s a compelling upgrade reason,” Cook asserted. But Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro believes iPhone sales would already be accelerating at a faster pace if consumers were blown away by Apple’s AI technology, increasing the pressure on the company “to do an overall better job to impress the public.”
