The American corporation Apple announced the first decline in quarterly revenue in four years. The company's financial performance was affected by disruptions in iPhone production at Chinese enterprises and the general economic situation.
For the holiday quarter that ended last December, Apple's revenue fell 5% to $117.2 billion, according to a FactSet report. The company's net income fell 13% to $30 billion.
So far, Apple has managed to avoid layoffs announced by a number of tech companies, including Microsoft, Meta*, Amazon and Google. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple continued to hire employees, but slowed down the rate of recruitment. Over the past three years, the company's staff has grown by about 20%, during the same period of time Amazon and Meta have almost doubled the number of employees.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is managing costs tightly and is cutting recruits in some areas while continuing to hire in others. According to him, in addition to production problems, the overall economic situation affected the financial performance of the iPhone manufacturer. Cook noted that the company would have been able to grow if it had not been hindered by coronavirus restrictions in China, which led to supply disruptions. Taking into account currency fluctuations, Apple's revenue increased, the head of the company emphasized.
After easing restrictions in China, Apple was able to restore the supply chain and increase production of the iPhone 14. Analysts believe that demand for the iPhone will increase until March. Experts explained that overall US consumer spending is declining, which could affect demand.
Sales in the Apple services sector for the last quarter rose 6% to $20.8 billion. Currently, the number of active Apple devices in the world is 2 billion units. Cook explained that buyers in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam supported the growth in demand.
However, worldwide iPhone shipments in the last quarter of 2022 fell by almost 15%. To date, Apple's core business has remained more resilient to market downturns than other tech companies.
Apple has slowed recruitment in some divisions, analysts say. The company may cut staff, experts predict.
Meta Platforms* and its social networks Facebook** and Instagram**
* - recognized as an extremist organization, its activities are prohibited in Russia
** — banned in Russia
bbabo.ℵet