Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2021 fiscal second quarter (which ran from December 27, 2020, to March 27, 2021) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. Unlike Apple’s Q1 which contains all of the holidays sales, Apple’s Q2 is usually not a particularly interesting quarter. Apple’s best Q2 ever had been in 2018, when Apple posted revenue of $61.1 billion. But I think it is fair to say that Apple beat that record this time, posting jaw-dripping revenue of $89.6 billion during the quarter. That’s a number that you would only expect to see in a Q1 with holiday sales, such as Apple’s 2020 Q1 with revenue of $91.8 billion thanks to the holiday sales at the end of calendar year 2019. Apple had a very, very good financial quarter. If you want to get all of the nitty gritty details, you can download the audio from the announcement conference call from iTunes, or you can read a transcript of the call prepared by Jason Snell of Six Colors. Apple’s official press release is here. Here are the items that stood out to me.
iPhone
- iPhone revenue for the quarter was $47.9 billion, a record for a fiscal second quarter. iPhone revenue was up 66% compared to this time last year.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone 12 model is the most popular, but the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are also very popular. He did not specifically mention the iPhone 12 mini, and my sense is that it is the least popular product in the iPhone 12 line.
- People seem to like their new iPhones. Apple CFO Luca Maestri stated: “In the U.S., the latest survey of consumers from 451 Research indicates customer satisfaction of over 99% for the iPhone 12 family.”
- To give you a sense of how impressive the increase in iPhone revenue was this past quarter, here is a chart showing the year-over-year percentage change since Fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form. There were some great quarters in 2015, but last quarter was even better.
iPad
- iPad revenue was $7.8 billion, which is 79% higher than a year ago.
- Maestri said that there are shortages in the semiconductor industry that have affected many companies, and these shortages are having an impact on how many iPads that Apple can make.
- Here is a chart to show the year-over-year percentage change in iPad revenue since Fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form. As you can see, the increase in iPad revenue was even more impressive than the increase in iPhone revenue when you compare this most recent quarter to all of the prior quarters.
Other
- Apple Watch sales continue to expand, with 75% of Apple Watch customers during the quarter purchasing their first Apple Watch. And Cook believes that there are many more Apple Watch sales to come, remarking that he thinks “we’re in the early innings on the Watch” and “this is a long way from being a mature market.”
- Apple TV+ shows have received 352 award nominations and had 98 wins.