Apple profit climbs but sales miss expectations
NEW YORK
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Apple has reported its revenue was a whopping $124.3 billion in the year-end holiday quarter but sales growth fell shy of market expectations as the iPhone faces stiff competition, particularly in China.
Apple logged $36.3 billion in profit in what chief executive Tim Cook called its "best quarter ever."
Revenue growth was powered by Apple's service and digital content unit, with iPhone sales slipping in markets like mainland China where they tallied $18.5 billion.
Overall iPhone sales in the quarter were $69.1 billion, about a half-billion less than it took in for handsets in the same period a year earlier, according to an earnings release.
In the quarter, Apple's services segment, which includes Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store, and Apple TV+, reported revenue of $26.3 billion, compared to $23.1 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The Americas remained Apple's largest market with $56.2 billion in revenue, while Europe showed strong growth at $33.9 billion.
Investors are eyeing demand for new iPhones with artificial intelligence features, especially after Apple stumbled with the technology.
Apple pushed out a software update in mid-January which disabled news headlines and summaries generated using AI that were lambasted for getting facts wrong.
The move by the tech titan comes as it enhances its latest lineup of devices with "Apple Intelligence" in a market keen for assurance that the iPhone maker is a contender in the AI race.