iPhone 16 sales appear to be off to a good start as Apple announces record earnings

The iPhone 16 may be off to a better start than some analysts predicted—at least judging by the sales data Apple just released for its final fiscal quarter of the year. For the three months ended September 28, Apple reported an increase in iPhone sales compared to last year, and it’s clear that this was due in part to the September release of the iPhone 16.

Of course, iPhone 16 models went on sale on September 20, which gives Apple just a week of sales of its new phones to include in the September quarter. However, iPhone revenue of $46.2 billion recorded over the past three months was a September quarter record for iPhone sales, which were up 6% from last year.

More importantly, from Apple’s perspective, the quarter marked a return to growth in iPhone sales. In June and March of this fiscal year, iPhone revenue fell by 1% and 10%, respectively. There were reasons for the decline: Apple was hit by unfavorable currency exchange rates in the June quarter, and March sales growth was hampered by supply chain problems last year. But Apple’s return to iPhone sales growth certainly has something to do with the launch of the iPhone 16.

“The number of active iPhone users has grown to a new all-time high overall and across all geographic segments,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s outgoing chief financial officer, speaking on his latest conference call with Wall Street analysts. “During the September quarter, many iPhone models were among the best-selling smartphones globally. In fact, according to a survey by (marketing data company) Kantar, the iPhone was the best-selling model in the US, cities in China, the UK and other countries around the world. Australia and Japan.”

iPhone revenue changes by quarter

(Image credit: SixColors.com)

Apple doesn’t break down its sales by specific product, so it’s hard to say what impact one week of iPhone 16 sales had on the company’s quarterly numbers. However, it’s hard to imagine that customers will be late adopting iPhone 15 models to fully fuel Apple’s record iPhone revenue. Speaking to CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook said iPhone 15 sales were higher than iPhone 14 sales in the year-ago quarter, and also noted that iPhone 16 sales were higher than iPhone 15 sales in the comparable period.

Ahead of today’s earnings report (October 31), some analysts were predicting a decline in demand for the iPhone 16, citing that Apple would reduce orders from its suppliers for the new phones. We’ll get a more complete picture in January when the company reports holiday sales data, which will include iPhone 16 sales figures for the first full quarter.

Apple appears relatively optimistic about its holiday outlook, even as it forecast low to mid-single digit revenue growth for the December quarter. “We have the best product lineup heading into the holiday season, including Apple Intelligence, which marks the start of a new chapter for our products,” Cook told analysts during Apple’s earnings presentation. “This is just the beginning of what we think generative AI can do, and I’m really excited about what comes next.”

Apple has provided a little more detail on the Apple Intelligence rollout timeline after introducing the first batch of Apple’s artificial intelligence tools to compatible iPhones this week with the release of iOS 18.1. (Macs and iPads also received Apple Intelligence this week.) iOS 18.2, which was released as a developer beta last week, will be released in December, Cook said. This update brings Visual Intelligence to iPhone 16, as well as generative image creation tools in the form of Image Playground and Genmoji.

The December update also localizes support for Apple Intelligence features in English in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Additional languages will be supported in Apple Intelligence by April 2025.

Apple posted a September revenue record, with total sales up 6% to $94.9 billion, helped by record services revenue, which rose 12% to $22.1 billion.

iPhone 16 sales appear to be off to a good start as Apple announces record earnings

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