Apple Q1 2022 winners & losers: iPhone up, iPad down in bumper holiday
Apple has released the earnings report for its first fiscal quarter of 2022, announcing yet another all-time record with revenue hitting $123.9 billion. The company credits a "very strong customer response" toward its latest and greatest products for the growth, noting its earnings ultimately jumped 11-percent compared to the previous year.
Apple's most recent fiscal quarter ended on December 25, 2021, raking in growth across the services, wearables, Mac, and iPhone products lines. The iPad was the only notable exception to the records, with the overall trend hinting at a bright future despite pandemic-related disruptions.
The company hasn't provided forward guidance since the start of the pandemic and the most recent quarterly earnings report is no exception. Despite that, Apple CEO Tim Cook did offer some insight into the company's expectations for the next quarter in a statement to CNBC, revealing Apple expects to see "solid year-over-year revenue growth" during its March quarter.
As with many other companies in the industry, Apple has been hit hard by supply chain disruptions. Though this issue won't disappear overnight, Cook said Apple expects these "constraints" to be less of a problem in its next quarter compared to the December quarter.
Apple introduced its iPhone 13 series in September 2021, paving the way for typically high sales over the holiday period. As of October, the company warned that supply shortages may end up hitting the iPhone and iPad lines, potentially impacting holiday sales. This reality was reflected in consumers' struggle to find the iPhone 13 Pro, at least in their desired configurations, for weeks after its launch.
Though the December quarter ended up exceeding analysts' expectations, the struggle isn't quite over. Cook explained that Apple's "biggest issue" involves supply chain constraints related to legacy nodes, a problem we've heard before. However, Apple's CEO did reveal the company is "doing okay" when it comes to acquiring leading-edge chips, which refers to the powerful hardware powering many of the smart devices used in everyday life.
The constraints aside, Cook also mentioned Apple's ongoing environmental and social efforts as part of the company's earnings announcement, stating:
We are gratified to see the response from customers around the world at a time when staying connected has never been more important. We are doing all we can to help build a better world — making progress toward our goal of becoming carbon neutral across our supply chain and products by 2030, and pushing forward with our work in education and racial equity and justice.