Apple's services business returned to double-digit growth for the first three months of 2024 – to hit a new record – but the tech giant's core iPhone business suffered a decline and the company saw a continued decline in sales in China.
Apple's Services segment generated $23.87 billion, up 14.2%, for the quarter ended March 30, beating analysts' estimates of $23.12 billion. For the last quarter of calendar year 2023, the company reported $23.12 billion in services revenue. The services segment includes subscription services such as Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and iCloud; App Store, Apple Pay and Apple Card; advertising; and payment by Google for search. Apple last fall raised the price of Apple TV+ to $9.99/month in the US, up from $6.99 previously.
Apple results drag: iPhone sales, by far its biggest line of business, fell 10.5% to $45.96 billion. Sales in the company's Greater China region, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, fell 8% in the period to $16.4 billion.
Overall, Apple reported $90.8 billion in revenue, down 4.3%, and net income of $23.6 billion ($1.53 per share), down 2.2%, for the March 2024 quarter. Wall Street had expected the The technology company posted revenue of $90.04 billion and earnings per share of $1.50 for the period, which is its fiscal 2024 second quarter.
“Today Apple is reporting revenue of $90.8 billion for the March quarter, including an all-time record revenue in Services,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the earnings announcement. “During the quarter, we were excited to launch Apple Vision Pro and show the world the potential that space computing unlocks.”
Apple also declared a cash dividend of 25 cents per share, up 4%, payable on May 16. The board of directors also authorized an additional program to repurchase up to $110 billion of the company's common stock.
