On November 3rd, Beijing time, Apple released its fourth quarter (third quarter) financial report for the 2023 fiscal year. In the quarter, Apple achieved revenue of $89.498 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.72%; The net profit was $22.956 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.79%.
Despite the growth in revenue from the iPhone business, Apple's other hardware businesses have performed poorly, with revenue declining year-on-year for four consecutive quarters. According to Wind data, after Apple's financial report was released, it fell by over 4% in the afternoon.
Hardware only achieves revenue growth in iPhone business
From a business perspective, the hardware business only achieved sales growth on iPhones. In the third quarter, the revenue of the iPhone business was $43.805 billion, compared to $42.626 billion in the same period last year; The revenue of the Mac business was 7.614 billion US dollars, compared to 11.508 billion US dollars in the same period last year; The revenue of the iPad business was $6.443 billion, compared to $7.174 billion in the same period last year; The revenue of wearable, home and accessories business was $9.322 billion, compared to $9.65 billion in the same period last year.
In addition, in the third quarter, Apple's service business revenue was $22.314 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.29%. Except for slight growth in the Americas region, business revenue in other regions has slightly declined. Apple's revenue in the Americas region was $40.115 billion, compared to $39.808 billion in the same period last year; The revenue in the European region was $22.463 billion, compared to $22.795 billion in the same period last year; The revenue of the Japan region was 5.505 billion US dollars, compared to 5.7 billion US dollars in the same period last year; The revenue of other Asia Pacific regions was $6.331 billion, compared to $6.373 billion in the same period last year.
In the third quarter, Apple's revenue in Greater China was $15.084 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.50%, compared to $15.47 billion in the same period last year. According to a report by market research firm Canalys, the shipment volume of China's smartphone market slightly decreased by 5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023, to 66.7 million units. Among them, Apple's shipment volume was 10.6 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 6%, ranking third in terms of shipment volume.
Apple CEO Cook stated that in the Chinese market, Apple's iPhone business revenue set a record in the third quarter. Canalys stated that the iPhone 15 series has attracted the attention of domestic consumers, with a large number of upgrades to the new product and meeting their expectations for product upgrades. Despite increasingly fierce market competition, the release of the iPhone 15 series still contributed to Apple's third quarter shipments.
Cook stated that the market performance of the iPhone 15 series is better than that of the iPhone 14 series in the same period last year. Due to strong demand, Apple's more expensive iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are in short supply.
New device release stimulates consumers to switch devices
From a global market perspective, Canalys stated that in the third quarter of 2023, the decline in the global smartphone market narrowed to 1%, as manufacturers improved their inventory situation in the second quarter and launched new products in the third quarter, with shipments reaching 294.6 million units. Driven by the demand for new iPhone 15 series products, Apple's shipment volume reached 50 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 6%, with a market share of 17%, ranking second.
Market research firm IDC believes that in the Chinese market, the market response for Apple's new iPhone 15 series is lower than expected. More consumer demand is biased towards iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but due to supply issues, they cannot be fully met. As supply issues improve in the future, Apple's shipment volume is expected to improve.
Huatai Securities Research reported that after a two and a half year long adjustment period for smartphones, the industry chain has shown signs of recovery recently driven by new devices such as the Huawei Mate 60 series and Apple iPhone 15 series. Against the backdrop of a slowdown in mobile phone upgrades, Apple's MR head display device Vision Pro, which will be launched early next year, is expected to take over as a new growth point for consumer electronics.
CITIC Securities believes that the release of new mobile phone products such as Huawei, Apple, and Xiaomi will help stimulate consumers to upgrade and replace devices, accelerate the replacement cycle, and continue to drive the recovery of consumer electronics demand. Upstream consumer electronics related material companies are expected to benefit.