Notes of interest from Apple's Q1 2017 conference call

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited January 2017
Apple returned to growth and exceeded Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, when it reported record revenue, profits and iPhone sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2017. Following the news, the company held a conference call with media and analysts, and notes of interest follow.




Participating in Tuesday's call were Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri.

Highlights

  • Apple's iPhone, Services, Mac and Watch businesses all set new all-time revenue records
  • In a rare personal note, Cook detailed the ways he uses HomeKit in his own home to control lights, locks, his fireplace, and even make coffee
  • The iPhone 7 Plus was a particularly strong performer, taking a greater share than previous "Plus" handsets
  • Apple plans to double the size of its booming Services business over the next four years
  • On acquisitions, Cook said: "There's not a size that we would not do, based on just the size of it."

Apple's iPhone business

Apple saw "especially higher demand" for the iPhone 7 Plus.

Demand for it exceeded supply throughout the quarter.

Apple's Services business

Apple's best quarter ever, with almost $7.2 billion in revenue.

The App Store saw $3 billion in purchases in December alone --?its best month ever.

Over 2.2 million apps are available on the App Store.

Apple's developer community has earned over $60 billion, including over $20 billion in 2016 alone.

Music business grew for third quarter in a row, and AppleCare and storage services set all-time records.

Apple Pay users have tripled over the last year, and hundreds of millions of transactions occurred in the December quarter alone.

Transaction volume was up over 500% year over year as Apple expanded to four new countries. It's now available in 13 markets.

Apple plans to double the size of its Services business in the next four years.

Apple's Mac business

The majority of Mac buyers last quarter were new to the platform, coming from Windows PC.

Apple Watch and AirPods

The Apple Watch had a "strong full first year," and posted its best revenue ever last quarter.

Cook also included AirPods as part of Apple's lineup of wearable products, noting that the company is working to meet up with incredible demand for the wireless headphones.

Apple's HomeKit business

Cook said he uses HomeKit in his own home, saying "Good morning" to turn on lights and make coffee. He's also automated his fireplace, lights, locks and more.

"This level of home automation was unimaginable just a few years ago, and it's here today with iOS and HomeKit," Cook said.

Apple's iPad business

iPad sales once again fell, to 13.1 million, though Apple continues to tout customer satisfaction rates and purchase intents.

Of note, Apple mentioned customer satisfaction with the iPad mini, a product that has not been updated in over a year.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    jingojingo Posts: 117member
    If the majority of Mac purchasers were new to the platform, that suggests a vast number of potential sales to existing upgraders if only they could be bothered to introduce any new systems!
    The_Martini_Catbrucemcavon b7watto_cobranubusdamn_its_hotSpamSandwich
  • Reply 2 of 10
    dachardachar Posts: 330member
    Interested to note Tim Cook's comments about HomeKit. Maybe this is a reaction to this year's CES? According to some reports products that connect to Amazon Echo products were in much grater numbers than those for Apple HomeKit.
    palomine
  • Reply 3 of 10
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    I thought the consensus was that Tim Cook was only interested in supply chains, and didn't have any interest in the products that Apple produced other than the revenues?  Perhaps another meme that is wrong?  Couldn't be. 
    watto_cobra2old4funcali
  • Reply 4 of 10
    jingo said:
    if only they could be bothered to introduce any new systems!

    Such as? I mean there's very little Apple can introduce to be honest

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 10
    jingo said:
    if only they could be bothered to introduce any new systems!

    Such as? I mean there's very little Apple can introduce to be honest

    Possibly Apple could introduce Computers that didn't force this segment in the throw away commodity range and ask a premium for that privilege?
    I blelieve that computers should retain some upgradability and not only Apple computers. You can just see this trend more prominently with Apple's range of computers.
    For me it is infuriating how corporations dumb down consumers to reduce life cycle time of their products (and consumers letting that happen and cheer for it)!
  • Reply 6 of 10
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,623member
    jingo said:
    if only they could be bothered to introduce any new systems!

    Such as? I mean there's very little Apple can introduce to be honest

    So increase RAM and storage. At the very, very least.

    Reduce prices. Include AppleCare.

    There were plenty of options to tempt people who were doubting. Should we read that Apple lost a huge amount of potential sales if the majority were to first time buyers?

    Can they capture those users with an iMac refresh? It will depend on many factors and price will clearly be one of them. 
  • Reply 7 of 10
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    Bring the brand new Mac Pro, Mac mini, Apple Thunderbolt display 24-inch with Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) and Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad with built-in hub sporting two ports of USB 3.1 Type-C (reversible) Generation 2 (10 Gbps).
    cali
  • Reply 8 of 10

    Apple's HomeKit business

    Cook said he uses HomeKit in his own home, saying "Good morning" to turn on lights and make coffee. He's also automated his fireplace, lights, locks and more.
    This story from last week now makes sense: 

    Tim Cook sells another $3.6M batch of Apple stock

    I wish I had that much AAPL stock to sell so I could afford $100 light bulbs and $500 coffee makers.
    cali
  • Reply 9 of 10
    jingo said:
    If the majority of Mac purchasers were new to the platform, that suggests a vast number of potential sales to existing upgraders if only they could be bothered to introduce any new systems!
    Yes, it's not good to be forced to wait so long to experience the joy of throwing thousands of pent-up dollars at Apple to get the latest and greatest. I've needed a new iMac for years.
    cali
  • Reply 10 of 10
    Anyone else catch that Tim said "Macbook touch" when referring to the new MBP? It was probably a slip-up, but it didn't sound like a slip-up..

    Also, pretty sure I heard Tim say he uses HomeKit to open his garage. As far as I know there are no garage door openers for HomeKit currently on the market. It does seem that as far as services go, the dogfeeding is being done under ideal conditions, and thus some of the practical frustrations for the regular users go unnoticed (I can't be the only one waiting for a HomeKit garage opener).

    NB: I'm in no way a Tim hater; IMO he's doing a great, if not excellent job.
    cali
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