Apple posted Olympic form in the first quarter of its 2020 fiscal year with record earnings, but is now trying to immunize against the viral pneumonia epidemic hitting China.
China is a key market for Apple and a major production site and Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, took the time on Tuesday to detail the measures taken to counter the impact of this serious health crisis.
But he nevertheless exulted in the communicated on quarterly results: “We are delighted to publish the highest quarterly sales in Apple’s history, thanks to strong demand for our iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 pro, and an all-time record for services and the wearables “. Apple includes portable connected accessories in this category, such as the Apple Watch, or the Airpods and Airpods pro Bluetooth headphones.
“Auspicious holiday season”
The first quarter of Apple covers the holiday season in the Western world, conducive to purchases of the apple brand. In fact, customers have spent countless hours on iPhone and Airpods for Christmas, the boss said.
The company’s turnover increased by 9% compared to the same period of the previous year, to 91.8 billion dollars (89.41 billion francs), with record sales in France, to The United States, the United Kingdom or Poland and Spain.
Net profit stood at 22.2 billion dollars (21.62 billion francs), nearly 300 million dollars more than in the first three months of fiscal 2019. “A historic record” again , said Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer.
After a leaner time, China has been a very lucrative market for Apple, with double-digit growth for the iPhone, services and wearables, said Tim Cook, with a very high percentage of new clients for Mac computers or for iPad tablets. But the coronavirus is likely to spoil the party.
“Our thoughts go above all to those affected throughout the region,” said Tim Cook during the conference call with analysts, indicating that the company had made donations to teams fighting the virus and that it had limited travel for its employees. “We are still collecting data and we are monitoring this very closely,” said Tim Cook.
He said Apple had subcontractors in the Wuhan area, the epicenter of the epidemic, but had alternative suppliers. For production chains outside of this region, “the situation is less clear,” he said, indicating that the reopening of factories had been postponed to February 10, well after the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. To take into account these uncertainties, Apple has given a forecast of turnover for its second quarter wider than usual, between 63 and 67 billion dollars. (Afp / nxp)
Created: 29.01.2020, 03h07
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