CEO Apple also cited a strong dollar and global economic difficulties as factors that caused the company’s revenue to fall for the first time since early 2019.
CEO Apple also cited a strong dollar and global economic difficulties as factors that caused the company’s revenue to fall for the first time since early 2019.
According to the South China Morning Post, Apple CEO Tim Cook has just said that production disruptions in November and December 2022 contributed to a drop in quarterly revenue for the first time since early 2019. The disruption is clear. apparently related to unrest late last year at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China, because of the limited blockade in response to the Covid-19 epidemic.
“The challenge of the Covid-19 epidemic has significantly impacted iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max supply, which will last through most of December,” Cook said during the earnings call, citing an announcement. in November 2022, said that the company had issued a warning about the lockdown restrictions that forced Apple’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou (China) to operate “at a significantly reduced capacity”.
According to Mr. Cook, “foreign exchange obstacles” in the context of a strong dollar and “challenging macroeconomic environment” also affected earnings. Another factor is weak demand in China, where Apple has seen sales decline by 7% amid the restrictions of the Covid-19 epidemic. However, after the outbreak controls were eased, there was “a marked shift in traffic to our stores,” Cook said.
Apple on February 2 reported revenue of $117 billion for the quarter that ended December 2022, down 5% from a year earlier. Profits fell 13.4% to $30 billion. Sales in the Greater China region, which includes the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, but mostly from the mainland, fell to $23.9 billion in the fourth quarter of this year. 2022.
By contrast, Apple has “set a quarterly revenue record” in India, with “strong double-digit growth”. The Apple CEO said India is an “extremely interesting” market, and the company is “very focused” on it. Apple has launched an online store in the country in 2020, and brick-and-mortar stores will be available soon.
Apple is expanding its manufacturing capacity in India, especially by ramping up iPhone production. Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s main iPhone maker, injected $500 million into its Indian subsidiary in December 2022. India is expected to assemble half of the world’s iPhones by 2027, a significant increase from the current 5%, according to a forecast by Taiwan-based DigiTimes Research.