Apple's revenue from iPads and computers increased to more than $14.1 billion. EPA
Apple's revenue from iPads and computers increased to more than $14.1 billion. EPA
Apple's revenue from iPads and computers increased to more than $14.1 billion. EPA
Apple's revenue from iPads and computers increased to more than $14.1 billion. EPA

Apple returns to revenue growth on upgraded iPads and services business


Alkesh Sharma
  • English
  • Arabic

Apple returned to revenue and profit growth in the June quarter, driven by upgraded iPad sales and a thriving services business that beat challenges in the Chinese market and declining iPhone sales.

The company’s net profit in the 2024 fiscal third quarter, which ended on June 29, jumped 7.8 per cent annually to more than $21.4 billion.

Revenue during the April-June period jumped 5 per cent to $85.8 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $84.5 billion.

It was the company's record for sales in the June quarter.

Apple’s net profit and revenue dropped 2.2 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, in the fiscal second quarter.

Industry experts welcomed the company’s growth in earnings and said Apple has been more comfortable than ever over the past year as the world's largest company by market cap.

"It's an incredibly solid quarter for Apple, which validates the company's turnaround towards becoming the leading player in the AI-to-consumer space,” Thomas Monteiro, senior analyst at Investing.com, told The National.

After the earnings announcement, Apple stock rose 0.64 per cent to $219.75 a share in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple. Reuters
Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple. Reuters

It closed 1.68 per cent down at $218.36, giving the company a market value of $3.29 trillion.

Its stock has surged almost 18 per cent since the start of the year.

Cautious guidance for September quarter

Apple predicts about the same total revenue growth in the September quarter as the last quarter, which was 5 per cent, chief financial officer Luca Maestri said on an analysts’ call.

The company anticipates its services division to grow at nearly 14 per cent. It expects the current quarter’s operating expenses to hover between $14.2 billion and $14.4 billion, Mr Maestri said.

Dwindling iPhone sales

The company's premier product, the iPhone, faced stiff competition in China from local brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi, leading to another quarter of declining sales.

They dropped almost 1 per cent to nearly $39.3 billion in the quarter from the year before, but they exceeded analysts’ estimates of $38.8 billion.

They accounted for nearly 46 per cent of the company's total revenue in the last quarter.

The company’s total revenue from its services division grew more than 14 per cent annually to almost $24.2 billion, while revenue from wearables, and home and accessories products dropped 2.3 per cent annually to more than $8 billion.

It was an all-time revenue record in the company’s services division.

Revenue from iPads and computers increased more than 12.1 per cent to pass $14.1 billion.

Apple launched new iPads during the quarter for the first time since 2022, prompting a surge in upgrades.

Falling share in China

Apple slipped out of the top five smartphone retailers in China during the last quarter, as competition from local brands increased, according to a Canalys report.

Its market share in China dropped to 14 per cent in the June quarter, from 16 per cent in the prior year period when it was the third-largest smartphone seller in China.

The company’s overall sales, which include revenues from products and services, in the Greater China market (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) dropped 6.5 per cent to $14.7 billion in the last quarter.

People look at the new iPhone 15 Pro at an Apple store in Shanghai. Reuters
People look at the new iPhone 15 Pro at an Apple store in Shanghai. Reuters

Falling sales in China have proved Apple chief executive Tim Cook wrong when he said in May: “I feel good about China. I think more about long term than to the next week or so.”

Americas region led Apple’s sales. It accounted for nearly 44 per cent of the company's total third-quarter revenue, with more than $37.7 billion.

It was followed by Europe, which added $21.9 billion – up 8.3 per cent annually – to the company’s revenue.

Japan and the rest of the Asia Pacific market added more than $11.5 billion to Apple’s third-quarter sales, an annual jump of almost 10 per cent.

Apple said its board of directors had declared a cash dividend, payable on August 15, of $0.25 for each share of the company’s common stock.

Why is Apple excited about artificial intelligence?

In the last quarter, Apple announced various updates to its software platforms, including Apple Intelligence – a personal intelligence system that puts generative AI models at the core of iPhone, iPad and Mac.

“We very much look forward to sharing these tools with our users, and we continue to invest significantly in the innovations that will enrich our customers’ lives, while leading with the values that drive our work,” Mr Cook said.

The new technology will be integrated into the company’s latest operating systems for iPhones, iPads and Macs that are expected to be launched tp the public next month.

It will harness the power of in-house silicon chips to understand and create language and images, in addition to taking action across apps.

Apple numbers should look “even better once the AI features hit the market in the quarters ahead”, Mr Monteiro said.

"On the margins side, the company also looks poised to keep improving in the fourth quarter and beyond, particularly due to its push on the chips side.”

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The specs

Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder

Power: 220 and 280 horsepower

Torque: 350 and 360Nm

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT 

On sale: now

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Five expert hiking tips
    Always check the weather forecast before setting off Make sure you have plenty of water Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon Wear appropriate clothing and footwear Take your litter home with you
THE SPECS

Engine: 3.6-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 285bhp

Torque: 353Nm

Price: TBA

On sale: Q2, 2020

SPECS
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The past Palme d'Or winners

2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda

2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund

2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach

2015 DheepanJacques Audiard

2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan

2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux

2012 Amour, Michael Haneke

2011 The Tree of LifeTerrence Malick

2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul

2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke

2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet

The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X

Price, as tested: Dh84,000

Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo

Transmission: Six-speed auto

Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm

Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km

The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

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Spider-Man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon 

Rating:*****

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
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Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Bio

Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Du Football Champions

The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali

Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000

Engine 6.2L V8

Transmission Eight-speed automatic

Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm

Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm

Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km

What's in the deal?

Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024

India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.

India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.

Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments

India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery

Your rights as an employee

The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.

The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.

If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.

Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.

The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: August 02, 2024, 2:48 AM`