Apple results show decline in sales of iPhones

Still no word on performance of Vision Pro headset

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Apple has announced results for the first quarter of 2024, beating disappointing forecasts this week. The company is now buying back $110 billion worth of shares, the largest amount ever in the US.

In related news, Apple reported revenue of $90.8 billion, a decline of 4.3%, a smaller drop than projected.

Although revenue from iPhone sales fell 10% in this second fiscal quarter, CEO Tim Cook said that makes sense. In past quarters, Apple sold exceptionally more iPhones as supply problems caused by the Covid pandemic were eliminated, he explained to investors.

There were now particular fears of lower sales of iPhones in China. According to finance director Luca Maestri, that was a storm in a teacup: “We are very satisfied with our results in China. The reality is different from what you might read.”

Cook joined: “When you look at the best-selling smartphones in urban China, you see that the top two are iPhones,” according to him, “There were other products that did not do as well. We clearly still have work to do.”

The Apple Vision Pro and artificial intelligence are areas where there is still some work to be done.

Cook would not disclose sales figures for the Apple Vision Pro, the Mixed Reality headset that brings the virtual world into the real world through glasses. The company released the Vision Pro in February to great interest. Reports did subsequently emerge that sales would be disappointing and forecasts were revised for the headset that costs $3,500 and has yet to be released outside the US.

However, the CEO expressed optimism. “More than half of the Fortune 100 companies have already bought Apple Vision Pros and are exploring innovative ways to use them. (…) And this is just the beginning.”

Around artificial intelligence (AI), Apple does not seem to be moving as fast as its competitors. Cook reported that Apple will make “significant investments”. This is mainly expected to involve new powerful computer chips.

Later this year, new Macs should hit the market with more powerful processors that can do more with AI. Mac sales also continued to grow solidly this quarter, driven by the launch of the new Macbook Air.

The next upgrade to the iPhone will also get new chips tuned for AI. In addition, there will be a slightly larger screen.

Cook is expected to talk more about Apple’s plans with AI at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Now he already talked about “some very exciting things”. So wait and see if Apple will come up with the well-known ‘one more thing’.

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