Apple sets new record as sales smash forecasts
APPLE sales smashed even the most optimistic expectations after the tech giant sold a record number of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus smartphones over the Christmas quarter and won thousands of new fans in China.
The company sold 74.5m iPhones in the first quarter to 27 December, thanks to more people switching from Android than in the previous three quarters and a record number of first time iPhone buyers.
This was far ahead of the 61m to 70m iPhone sales analysts had been expecting.
“Demand for the iPhone has been staggering, shattering our high expectations,” chief executive Tim Cook said. “This volume is hard to comprehend.”
He said Apple sold an average 34,000 iPhones each day in the quarter. But while iPhone sales flourished, demand for iPads waned with sales down 22 per cent to 21.4m compared with a year earlier.
Total sales soared 29.5 per cent to $74.6bn (£49bn) in the quarter while net profit leapt 37 per cent to $18bn – the highest ever reported by any public company in history.
In China, revenue was up 70 per cent in the quarter from a year earlier, thanks to its partnership with China Mobile, the largest global mobile carrier, and the appeal of the larger screen size of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
The group currently has 15 stores in China but wants to reach 40 outlets by 2016, Sales in the Americas and Europe were up 23 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
Cook also confirmed it would begin shipping its new Apple Watch in April and said he had high hopes for the product:
“I use it every day, love it and can’t live without it.”