Apple released its earnings call audio yesterday on its website. Apple CEO Tim Cook made the opening remarks and the company CFO Luca Maestri talked at length about the Q4 2020. The company reportedly saw 10% year-over-year growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Cook highlighted the launch of the Apple online store in India and attributed a part of the increase in sales to the same. Apple launched its online store in September and has brought some longtime missing things like official student discounts, direct support, and a lot more.
Last quarter saw major discounts on the iPhone 11 in India, including on Apple’s freshly launched online store. The company was giving away free AirPods with the purchase of an iPhone 11 and a heavy discount on the AirPods Pro. The company reportedly sold 800,000 iPhone devices in India, much higher than any previous quarter, according to the analyst firm Canalys. While details have not been provided, the sales of the iPhone reportedly fell worldwide during the same quarter.
We also set a September quarter record in India, thanks in part to a very strong reception to this quarter’s launch of our online store in the country.
Tim Cook
Apple made $64.7 billion worldwide during the Q4 2020 in revenue. Also, the revenue generated from the Mac and the services business was record-breaking. The Mac brought in around $9 billion in the previous quarter which is the highest the company has ever recorded. On the other hand, the services business brought in a whopping $14.5 billion which makes it larger than the Mac.
Services: The new strong arm of Apple
Apple’s services business includes the App Store, iTunes (tracks, movies, etc), Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and more. The services arm of the company continues to grow every year as the company continues to churn out new services. This year, the company unveiled its service pertaining to fitness – Apple Fitness+ which is set to release very soon.
The iPad business also saw a major increase in sales as the company has updated the complete product lineup. The iPad Air saw a major redesign this year, bringing it line with the iPad Pro while costing $200 less than the iPad Pro. Also, the iPad Air features TouchID instead of FaceID which some are beginning to see as a advantage in the age of masks.
