Apple brakes through $1tn barrier
Apple revisited $1tn valuation on iPhone yesterday as Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief at signs that it has put the worst of the iPhone tumble behind it.
The tech had predicted a quicker rebound than expected from a six month revenue slide, caused by weaker iPhone handset sales, especially in China.
The news send the Apple shares up by 6 per cent , breaking the $1tnbarrier it crossed last summer – though autumn stocksslide wipe out $330bn form its value.
The company issued revenue guidance of $52.5bn -$54.5bn for the quarter to the end of June, the third of its fiscal year.
Luca Maestri the CFO said the guidance reflected growing confidence about prospect for the iPhone after the company’s shock profit warning at the start of the year.
“We saw during the course of the quarter an improvement in our iPhone performance, particularly in the last few weeks. The recovery was particularly notable in China” he said thanks partly to price cuts and introduction of new instalment programmes for buyers.
Tim Cook , CEO pointed to broader economic and political factors likely to be seen as encouraging for other companies that sell to consumers in China. Among them was a boost from Chinese government actions to stimulate the economy including a cut in the VAT rate.
Mr Cook also attributed the stronger China sales late in the firs quarter to lessened trade tensions . “ There is an improved trade dialogue between the US and China. From out point of view , that has affected consumer confidence on the ground there is a positive way.” he said.
A 410.2bn Apple’s sales in greater China still fell almost 22 per cent in the latest quarter compared with last year, but a 27 per cent improvement from three months ago.
The partial revenue failed to prevent iPhone revenues tumbling 17 per cent to $31.1bn.
Apple registered a 5 per cent fall in revenue in the latest quarter to $58bn despite confirmation on Wall Street that the iPhone business had stabilised, after a sharp downturn due to lack of unit volume growth,