In the early morning of May 1, Beijing time, Apple released its financial report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2019. Due to Apple's special fiscal year division, it actually reflects the financial situation in the first quarter of 2019. Since the fourth quarter of last year, Apple's revenue and profit have both declined year-on-year, and the voices of Apple's dislike have become increasingly obvious.
Let’s look at the main data first. Apple’s revenue in the second quarter was US$58.015 billion, down 5% from US$61.137 billion in the same period last year; net profit was US$11.561 billion, down 16% from US$13.822 billion last year.
Apple still has not announced the specific sales volume of different hardware products, but sales can also reflect the problem. iPhone revenue was US$31.051 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 17.3%; Mac revenue was US$5.51 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4.6%; iPad revenue was US$4.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.4%; wearable devices, home products and accessories revenue was US$5.13 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30%; software and service revenue was US$11.45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.2%.
It can be seen that the sales of iPhone as the pillar products have declined significantly, which is the main factor causing the decline in overall revenue and profits. Mac sales also declined, but not much. iPad has finally recovered, and its sales are quite close to Mac. Apple's cheap iPad strategy may be the main reason.
In addition, Apple's wearable devices and home products have ushered in a peak of growth, and its revenue has exceeded that of Mac. At the same time, software services are also growing steadily, with revenue contribution exceeding one-third of iPhones.
From a regional perspective, Apple suffered a heavy blow in Greater China, with revenue of US$10.218 billion, a year-on-year decline of 21.6%; Europe also saw a decline, revenue of US$13.054 billion; Japan increased slightly by 1.2%, with revenue of US$5.532 billion. Apple encountered setbacks in both China and Europe in the second quarter.
Overall, Apple's financial data for the second quarter does not seem to be a satisfactory answer. However, since the financial report of the last quarter has given the outside world sufficient psychological preparation, the statement in the second fiscal quarter has exceeded expectations, and Apple's stock price did not fall sharply in the stock market.
2018 iPhone has been analyzed repeatedly before, mainly because the innovation is insufficient, and the pricing has been high in the past. In the domestic market, after the iPhone price collapsed, sales ushered in a rebound. In addition, the competitiveness of Android flagship products, especially domestic flagship phones, has also increased rapidly, which has put great pressure on Apple.
Cook said at the financial report meeting that it will grasp the emerging technology of 5G in the future and plans to vigorously expand the Indian market. 5G, overseas markets, software services, etc. may become a booster for Apple's revenue growth.
