The Numbers
With Apple’s entire iPhone lineup out on the market by the end of Q4, it’s no surprise that Apple’s numbers were good in that department. However, it’s also the only hardware category in which it saw any growth, with most of its revenue increase coming from Services, which now accounts for more than half of its iPhone revenue.
In fact, despite a run of record-breaking growth in its fourth quarters, Apple posted slightly lower revenue overall this year for the first time in years. Even Q4 2020 — the year that the iPhone 12 lineup was delayed into October — saw a one percent year-over-year revenue growth, from $64 billion in Q4 2019 to $64.7 billion in Q4 2020.
While this year’s $89.5 billion in revenue is far beyond those 2020 numbers, it’s still nearly 1% lower than last year’s fourth quarter, when Apple reported $90.1 billion. Despite this, Apple still came out 6% higher than the expectations from Wall Street analysts, who only predicted revenue of $84.18 billion for the quarter.
Here’s the breakdown by product category:
- iPhone: $43.8 billion (2.8% growth)
- Mac: $7.6 billion (-33.8% growth)
- iPad: $6.4 billion (-10.2% growth)
- Wearables: 9.3 billion (-3.4% growth)
- Services: 22.3 billion (16.3% growth)
As those numbers show, Apple saw most of its negative growth in Mac sales, followed by the iPad and Wearables. Apple’s revenue would have suffered more if not for remarkable growth in Services, which broke past the $20 billion mark earlier this year. However, it’s not just Apple; the economy is leveling off, resulting in lower consumer spending overall, and the personal computer market has been on a gradual downswing over the past year as many folks spent more on new systems during the COVID-19 pandemic to accommodate working and schooling from home.