Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple reports record revenue despite global chip shortage

Apple on Thursday reported record revenue for its most recent quarter, thanks largely to strong sales of the new iPhone 13.

Despite ongoing challenges caused by the global chip shortage, the tech giant reported earnings of $123.9 billion for the three-month period ending December 25, 2021 — a significant increase over the $111.4 billion it recorded for the same quarter a year earlier.

Related Videos

Profit came in at $34.6 billion, marking a $6 billion increase on a year earlier and the first time for its earnings to top $30 billion.

The iPhone 13, together with other available models such as the SE, pulled in $71.6 billion for the company — up from $65.6 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Mac computers, with their new Apple-made M1 chips, also performed well, generating $10.9 billion in revenue — up from $8.7 billion. Its wearables, home, and accessories unit also saw a revenue increase, from $12.9 billion to $14.7 billion.

The only product that saw a yearly fall was the iPad, which generated $7.3 billion — down from $8.4 billion.

“We are gratified to see the response from customers around the world at a time when staying connected has never been more important,” Apple chief Tim Cook said in a comment acknowledging the ongoing pandemic.

In an earnings call shortly after the results were posted, Cook said he expects supply constraints to ease during the current quarter, adding that Apple’s supply chain “actually does very good considering the shortages.”

In the same call, Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri said the latest results were “an all time record quarter for both products and services,” adding that the bumper quarter had been achieved “despite significant supply constraints” linked to the global chip shortage.

Maestri said that while Apple expects to achieve “solid” year-over-year revenue growth and set a March quarter revenue record, he expects income to be lower than the latest quarter due to slightly different release dates for recent iPhones and fluctuating exchange rates.

Apple’s record-breaking revenue was partly propelled by healthy sales in China, where market analyst firm Counterpoint Research said the iPhone had recently become the number one handset for the first time in six years, taking a 23% share of the market, with yearly growth hitting 32%.

For more on the iPhone 13 at the center of Apple’s record-breaking quarter, check out Digital Trends’ handy guide.

Editors' Recommendations

I created the perfect iPhone home screen — and you can too
iPhone 14 Pro with custom home screen icons and widgets

With iOS 14, Apple began to open the floodgates for software customization on the iPhone. For the first time, you could add widgets to the home screen and even change app icons to custom ones without the need for a jailbreak. And iOS 16 gave us some more customization options in the form of the lock screen, although the interface for that is su-par, to say the least.

While I see a lot of people still use a stock grid layout on their home screen, I took some time when iOS 14 first came out to customize my iOS experience. I enjoy that it’s not just a boring grid of stock icons — having custom icons and widgets really mix things up a bit and gives me a more informative home screen.

Read more
Will my phone automatically change for daylight saving time?
The iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island showing the timer and music playing.

Like it or not, it's that time of year again — time for daylight saving time. On Sunday, March 12, at 2:00 a.m. (local time), the majority of people in the United States will be "springing forward" and setting their clocks ahead by an hour. Along with losing an hour of sleep, it also poses an important question: will your phone automatically change for daylight saving time?

It's a question that applies regardless of which phone you have. Whether you're rocking an iPhone 14 Pro, a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, or any other smartphone, it's important to know whether or not you need to change it for the new time.

Read more
Apple, please release the iPhone 14 in these colors next 
Mockup render of the iPhone 14 in an orange color.

You've probably heard the news by now. Earlier this week, Apple released a new yellow color for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus -- and it's now up for pre-order. Does it look good? I sure think so! It's a bright, vibrant, and saturated yellow that adds a lot of pop to a mostly muted color palette for the iPhone 14 series.

But as much as I like how the yellow looks, it's not the only color I'd love to see the iPhone come in. There are so many possibilities for future iPhone colors, and if Apple's looking for a few tips on what to do next, I have some suggestions. Here are five colors Apple should release the iPhone 14 in next (hopefully soon).
Dark green

Read more