The first generation of Apple’s iPhone was introduced in 2007, bringing innovative features such as a touch screen interface and a virtual keyboard to a broader audience. Considered by many as a revolutionary product, the Apple iPhone drove growth for the smartphone market. Since its introduction to the consumer market, Apple has released eleven generations of the product, along with new features and updates. The iPhone runs on Apple’s own mobile operating system iOS, the second most popular smartphone operating system in the market. In 2017, the iPhone made Apple the second-largest smartphone vendor in the world, with a global market share of almost 15% percent.
The iPhone has changed Apple’s business dramatically. iPhone sales have risen strongly over the years, from around 1.4 million iPhones sold in 2007 to more than 216 million units worldwide in 2017. In total, Apple has sold more than one billion iPhones worldwide from 2007 to 2017. In the first quarter of 2018, iPhone sales accounted for about 70 percent of Apple’s total revenue, generating more than 61 billion U.S. dollars in revenues.
A quarterly revenue of $61.1 billion, up 16% compared to the year-ago quarter
A quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.73, up 30% year-on-year.
An International sales bought 65% of Apple’s revenue for the quarter
A revenue generation of over $15 billion in operating cash flow.
Apple had predicted revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion when it gave guidance for the second quarter during the first quarter results. However, the revenue was still within Apple’s targets, it was a better result than had been anticipated by Thomson Reuters, who predicted that Apple would report revenue of $60.84 billion for the quarter (a rise of 15%). Thomson Reuters expected net profit is to jump 24% to $13.68 billion.
Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted the strong revenue growth in “iPhone, Services and Wearables”. He also added that:
“We’re thrilled to report our best March quarter ever, with strong revenue growth in iPhone, Services and Wearables,” and it makes us feel even better as “Customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter, just as they did following its launch in the December quarter. We also grew revenue in all of our geographic segments, with over 20 percent growth in China and Japan.”
Apple CFO Luca Maestri said: “Our business performed extremely well during the March quarter, as we grew earnings per share by 30pc and generated over $15bn in operating cash flow.
“With the greater flexibility we now have from access to our global cash, we can more efficiently invest in our US operations and work toward a more optimal capital structure. Given our confidence in Apple’s future, we are very happy to announce that our board has approved a new $100bn share repurchase authorisation and a 16pc increase in our quarterly dividend.”
Apple revealed that $38billion from its $61billion in Q2 sales came from the iPhone, with 52.2million units sold worldwide. This is compared with $33billion from the sale of 50 million iPhone units in the second quarter of 2017. Analysts were predicting that Apple had sold about 52 million to 53 million iPhones in the quarter, so Apple’s sales were within those predictions.
Interestingly, according to recent research from Counterpoint, the iPhone X, which was unveiled in September last year, is hugely profitable and accounted for 35 percent of total smartphone industry profits in Q4 2017. It estimated that the iPhone X generated five times more profit than the combined profit of more than 600 Android original equipment manufacturers during the quarter.
The $100bn repurchase programme and a 16 percent increase in dividends are on top of already generous rewards for Apple’s shareholders. Between 2012 and 2018, Apple has returned $275 billion to its shareholders, including $200 billion in share repurchases.
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