Apple had a record September quarter in India; iPhone 12 getting tremendously positive response, says Tim Cook

Apple reported $64.7 billion in revenue marking a record fiscal fourth quarter on the back of strong demand for Mac and services, CEO Tim Cook announced during Cupertino’s earnings call on Friday. International sales accounted for 59% of the quarter’s revenue with the company also setting a September quarter record in India, “thanks in part to a very strong reception to this quarter’s launch of our online store in the country,” Cook said. Apple Store Online went live in India on September 23.

The Mac had its biggest quarter ever, iPad sales were up as well — a trend that’s unsurprisingly being carried over from the last quarter, as people around the world continue to work and learn from home in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The numbers are encouraging for Apple’s newest — and all upcoming — Mac computers and iPads like the iPad Air. The same is true for services, even as Apple gears to launch Apple One pairing Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud storage under one subscription bundle later today.

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iPhone sales missed Wall Street estimates though in part due to a 25% fall in revenue in China — also due to potential buyers possibly holding back to invest in the new iPhone 12 series which came in later than usual this year. “Despite the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, Apple is in the midst of our most prolific product introduction period ever, and the early response to all our new products, led by our first 5G-enabled iPhone lineup, has been tremendously positive,” Cook said.

That the iPhone did not perform well is accentuated by the fact it gave Xiaomi enough leeway to overtake Apple for the first time with year-on-year growth of 46% and become the world’s third largest smartphone vendor during the last quarter, according to data released by IDC, Counterpoint, and Canalys. Samsung meanwhile regained the pole position for top smartphone brand in the world.

Like the last quarter, Apple did not provide guidance or earnings forecasts again. “Financial performance aside, I don’t think this year will be a time that any of us look back on with great fondness or nostalgia.” Be that as it may, it seems Apple still has a few more product announcements in store for the remainder of this year. “This year has a few more exciting things in store,” Cook said possibly hinting at the impending launch of the first wave of Mac computers powered by Apple’s own silicon.