Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Apple beats revenue forecast in first quarter, but iPhone sales took a hit

By

iPhone X - How to use AirDrop
Julian Chokkattu / Digital Trends
Despite reports that Apple hadn’t sold as many iPhone X units as it may have hoped, the iPhone and iPad maker has beaten its revenue forecast for the fiscal first quarter of 2018. The company raked in a massive $88.4 billion in revenue, topping the forecast of between $84 billion and $87 billion.

Apple’s fiscal first quarter of 2018 includes the last three months of the 2017 calendar year.

Recommended Videos

According to the report from Apple, it sold 77.3 million iPhones, 13.2 iPads, and 5.1 million Macs, which drove an increase in revenue compared to the same quarter the previous year, when it earned $78.4 billion.

Related

Perhaps even more important is the fact that Apple has reported an active install base of 1.3 billion devices. In other words, there are 1.3 billion Apple devices that are regularly used by customers. That, of course, doesn’t mean that 1.3 billion people use Apple devices — many Apple users own multiple devices. Some even probably own an iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.

Reports of lackluster iPhone sales have some weight — though lackluster is hardly a word many would use to describe 77.3 million units sold. The company reported iPhone sales of 78.3 million units in Q1 2017, so while Q1 2018 was better for overall revenue, the fact is that the company sold fewer iPhones during the most recent quarter. It will be interesting to see how the company responds. Reports indicate that the company could launch as many as three phones with iPhone X-type designs in 2018.

This year could also be interesting for the company as it’s gearing up to launch the HomePod, its Siri-powered smart speaker. It’s also rumored to be prepping a new Mac Pro, though it’s unlikely the Mac Pro will have a huge impact on its overall revenue.

Still, despite the slip in iPhone unit sales, Apple says that Q1 2018 was its biggest quarter ever — and that’s no small feat. Not only that, but the iPhone is still provides Apple’s biggest revenue stream by far.

“We’re thrilled to report the biggest quarter in Apple’s history, with broad-based growth that included the highest revenue ever from a new iPhone lineup,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper
Contributor
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
3 reasons why I’ll actually use Anker’s new iPhone power bank
A person holding the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

Power banks are a necessary evil, and even if you don’t consider yourself a “power user” who's likely to drain a phone’s battery in less than a day, there will be times when one comes in handy. And when I am forced to carry one, I want it to be as helpful and versatile as possible.

I’ve been trying Anker’s MagGo Power Bank 10K -- meaning it has a 10,000mAh cell inside it -- and there are three reasons why I'm OK with it taking up valuable space in my bag.
It has a screen on it

Read more
Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever
An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.

Read more
There’s a big problem with the iPhone’s Photos app
The Apple iPhone 15 Plus's gallery app.

While my primary device these days continues to be my iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve dabbled with plenty of Android phones since I’ve been here at Digital Trends. One of my favorite brands of phone has been the Google Pixel because of its strong suite of photo-editing tools and good camera hardware.

Google first added the Magic Eraser capability with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which is a tool I love using. Then, with the Pixel 8 series, Google added the Magic Editor, which uses generative AI to make edits that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. There are also tools like Photo Unblur, which is great for old photographs and enhancing images that were captured with low-quality sensors.

Read more