Apple reports USD111.4 billion in sales, best revenue quarter of all-time

Apple announced its Q1 2020 earnings of USD111.4 billion in sales, the best quarter in the history of smartphones. iPhone which accounted for nearly 59% of the company’s revenue saw its sales went up 17% year-over-year to a whopping USD65.6 billion in a single quarter as compared to 7.6% from a year ago.

According to an estimate from research firm IDC, Apple shipped 90.1 million phones during the quarter, the largest number in any single quarter than any other smartphone vendor ever has since IDC started tracking smartphones.

Apple’s dominant quarter is adding fuel to the so-called “super cycle” investor thesis, where must-have updates combine with the natural customer upgrade cycle to drive a spike in sales growth. Analysts saw this year’s iPhone 12 models as a good candidate for a super-cycle because they sported a new design and added 5G, which enables the devices to connect to faster wireless networks.

According to Wedbush analyst, Dan Ives, the current cycle “should eclipse the previous iPhone record set in FY15, an achievement for the ages in our opinion.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook also said that the company’s iPhone results could have been better if not for store closures caused by the ongoing pandemic, cited from an interview with CNBC.

Also according to Cook during a conference call with analysts, he said that the new iPhones were not only getting current iPhone users to open up their wallets and upgrade, but also convincing people who had previously used competitor phones to get their first iPhone.

The CEO mentioned that 5G remains a potential tailwind for iPhone sales through the rest of the year. Although 5G in China was well established, leading to strong iPhone sales, 5G cellular networks in other regions aren’t as built-out yet, especially in Europe.