According to the latest news, today, Apple posted strong earnings for its fourth quarter. The company reported all-time highs for its services and Mac divisions. Apple’s revenue was of $83.4 billion which is a 29% year on year increase. During the same period, earnings per share increased by $1.24. However, the earnings were well below Wall Street’s expectations of $84.85 billion.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that the supply chain clearly took a toll on financial results this quarter. He said “We had a very strong performance despite larger than expected supply constraints, which we estimate to be around $6 billion.” attributing the supply issues to “the industry-wide chip shortages that have been talked about a lot and COVID-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia.” In the December quarter, Apple expects an even greater loss due to supply chain constraints.
Apple is now fresh off the launch of several new products like the iPhone 13 and its Pro variant, a new iPad mini, 9th generation iPad, Apple Watch Series 7th generation AirPods, and the MacBook Pro powered by Apple silicon. The iPhones were not released until late in the quarter. Despite this, the iPhone business continued to show strong momentum with a 47% year on year increase. During the same time, iPad sales was up by up to 21 percent.
Due to the global supply chain issues, it is getting difficult for the company to stock the high end iPhones at Apple retail locations. Apple’s 14 inches and 16 inches MacBook Pros are already severely back ordered.
