Apple 2023 fiscal fourth quarter — the iPhone and iPad angle

A few days ago, Apple released the results for its 2023 fiscal fourth quarter (which ran from July 2, 2023, to September 30, 2023) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. The fiscal fourth quarter is typically a less important quarter for Apple. It is the first fiscal quarter—the one that we are in now—that is traditionally Apple’s big revenue quarter because of holiday sales. Nevertheless, there are always a few interesting items whenever Apple announces quarterly results. This year, the revenue for the quarter was $89.5 billion, down slightly from $90.1 billion this time last year. If you want to get all of the nitty-gritty details, you can listen to the audio from the announcement conference call on the Apple website, 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

• Apple’s iPhone revenue for the quarter was $43.8 billion, which is 3% better than the $42.6 billion this time last year. This was a new record for iPhone revenue in a fiscal fourth quarter.
• Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the number of iPhones in active use “grew to a new all-time high” and added that “fiscal 2023 was another record year for switchers,” but he didn’t provide specific numbers for either statement.
• People are ordering the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max faster than Apple can currently make them.

iPad

• Apple’s iPad revenue for the quarter was $6.4 billion, which is down 10% from $7.2 billion this time last year.
• Maestri said that the reduction in iPad sales was a “function of a difficult compare from the supply disruptions in the June quarter a year ago and the subsequent fulfillment of pent-up demand in the September quarter.” In my opinion, the fact that Apple didn’t come out with a new iPad in 2023 probably had a lot to do with it too.
• Maestri said that over half of the customers who purchased an iPad during the past quarter were purchasing their first iPad.

Other

• Cook said that the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, which will go on sale early next year, has gotten “an amazing response from developers who are currently creating truly incredible apps.”
• Services revenue for Apple set an all-time record of $22.3 billion, a 16% year-over-year increase.
• Maestri said that there are over 2 billion Apple devices in active use that can stream Apple services.
• Cook announced that since Apple TV+ launched four years ago, its shows have earned nearly 1,600 award nominations and nearly 400 wins.