Apple Hits 2 Billion Active Devices; Cook Says Production Disruptions Over

Today Apple announced its Q1 2023 earnings, reporting $117.2 billion in revenue and net income of $29.9 billion for the December quarter. Revenue was down 5% year-over-year, affected by production disruptions in China due to COVID-19.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters in an interview that production disruptions are essentially over, as they “lasted through most of December”. Cook said, “production is now back where we want it to be,” noting how supply and demand both saw simultaneous constraints in China. Sales fell in the country by 7% down to $23.9 billion.

“When things started to reopen in December (in China), we did see an increase in traffic to our stores as compared to November and an increase in demand as December rolled around,” said Cook.

Previously, Apple warned foreign-exchange issues would result in a 10% hit on sales, but in reality it was only 8%. “I would point out that 8% is still a very severe headwind,” said Cook to Reuters. “I wouldn’t want to underestimate that. We would have grown on a constant currency basis.”

Apple also noted there are now 2 billion active devices, up from 1.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. There are now 935 million paid subscriptions, up 3.8% year-over-year. The company set a services revenue record for the quarter, applicable to numerous markets including China, said Cook.

As for the strong iPad sales in Q1, Cook said it was due to the launch of new models and no supply constraints, compared to a year ago.