Apple has announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2021---and they're pretty jaw-droppingly impressive.
During the three-month holiday period, Apple brought in a massive $111.4 billion in revenue, representing a 21% increase year-over-year. This is the first time in Apple history that it has recorded more than $100 billion in revenue in a single quarter.
It was driven by strong sales performance across the board---most notably including massive sales of the ultra-popular iPhone 12 series.
Massive Growth for Every Product Category
iPhone revenue for the quarter stood at $65.60 billion, an increase of 17% year-over-year. Meanwhile, Mac revenue increased 21% to $8.68 billion, iPad revenue was up 41% to $8.44 billion, and Services (which includes the likes of Apple Music, the App Store, and others) soared 24% to $15.76 billion. Other products, such as the AirPods and Apple Watch, rose 29% year-over-year to hit $12.97 billion in the quarter.
As CNBC notes, in every instance Apple's product categories increased by double figures' growth. They also consistently outperformed Wall Street expectations.
"Our December quarter business performance was fueled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices," said Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO, in an Apple press release. "These results helped us generate record operating cash flow of $38.8 billion. We also returned over $30 billion to shareholders during the quarter as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time."
Apple CEO Tim Cook said that:
"This quarter for Apple wouldn't have been possible without the tireless and innovative work of every Apple team member worldwide. We're gratified by the enthusiastic customer response to the unmatched line of cutting-edge products that we delivered across a historic holiday season."
If you're confused about why a quarter running October through December is classed as Q1 2021, it's because Apple starts its financial year with this all-important holiday season.
Apple Is Thriving Right Now
There are multiple reasons for Apple's success during the quarter. The most obvious is a very strong line of new product offerings, including the first Apple Silicon M1 Macs and the first 5G iPhones.
However, it also seems likely that areas like the App Store benefited enormously from customers being stuck home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This, in turn, led to more spending on services than ever.
Apple's current market cap stands at around $2.4 trillion. It only passed the $1 trillion milestone back in August 2018---and has continued to climb rapidly ever since.
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