Apple $AAPL reported its second-quarter results today, and as expected, the company announced its first year-over-year decline in iPhone sales, and quarterly revenue in over a decade. Shares fell roughly 8% in after-hours trading.
The company reported $50.6 billion in sales, which was roughly a 13% decrease from the same quarter last year, as iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales declined.
Apple made up some ground with strong growth in its services and “Other products” business lines (up 20% and 30%, respectively), but they were offset by weak sales in China, Apple’s second-largest market, which saw sales drop by 26% to $12.4 billion for the quarter.
We charted Apple’s results as they were reported. Those updates are below:
4:03pm: Apple shares closed at $104.35, down about 0.7% on the day. But shares are up about 5% since Apple last reported earnings in January.
4:35: Apple’s earnings press release is out! The company reported $50.6 billion in revenue for the January-March 2016 quarter, which is about a 12% decline in year-over-year quarterly revenue. It’s officially Apple’s first quarterly decline since 2003.
Apple’s earnings per share and revenue were well below what Wall Street was expecting.
“Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds,” CEO Tim Cook said in Apple’s release. “We are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.”
4:39: The overwhelming majority of Apple’s revenue comes from iPhone sales. The company sold 51.2 million iPhones in the quarter—about 10 million fewer than it did in the same quarter a year ago.
4:51: One of Apple’s major growth areas is China, its second-largest market. The Chinese government recently curtailed some of Apple’s services, including iBooks and iTunes movies, in the country, which could affect growth in the future. And bad news for this quarter: revenue in Greater China was down about 26% compared to a year earlier—a drop of roughly $12.4 billion for the quarter.
5:03: If Apple’s sales of devices are stalling, there’s still hope to bring in additional revenue from its existing users. Apple’s services business—songs and movies on iTunes, AppleCare, licensing fees, Apple Pay, and so on—is growing as the company figures out how to lock its device owners in for the long haul, even when they’re not buying new devices.
Apple’s services revenue for the quarter was nearly $6 billion, up 20% from the same period a year earlier.
5:04: The earnings call has started! Listen along here. Tim Cook said the services revenue during the March quarter was the highest ever.
5:06: Apple still isn’t saying how many Apple Watches it’s selling, but you can see what effect the smartwatch has had on the company’s “Other products” revenue line, which also includes Beats and Apple TV:
Other products revenue was up 30% from the same quarter a year ago, to about $2.1 billion.
Cook said on the call that the Apple has “learned a lot” about the Apple Watch in its first year, and that sales “met expectations in the quarter.” He added that Apple expects the “seasonality” of the Watch—the time of year consumers will buy them—to be similar to the original iPod.
5:14: Tim Cook said “the future of Apple is bright,” and that it’s making “important investments” in research and development, having made 15 acquisitions in the last four quarters.
5:20: In the quarter, Apple introduced its second iPad Pro, a smaller, 9.3-inch version. It’s selling these, along with myriad other iPad Airs and Mini.
Apple sold over 10 million iPads in the quarter, for about $4.5 billion in revenue. That’s roughly a 19% decline from the same quarter a year ago, but Apple is bullish on the future of the iPad—when the Pro models get into more people’s hands—in the next quarter. Cook said: “In June quarter expect to see best iPad revenue compare in over two years.”
5:23: How Apple’s stock is faring in after-market sales:
5:25: Chief financial officer Luca Maestri said on the call that Apple’s cash pile is now at a whopping $232.9 billion, with about 90% of that held outside the US. That would buy a lot of Apple Watches.
5:31: Tim Cook was asked if he still thought Apple was a “growth company.” He didn’t answer directly yes or no, but said he’s “optimistic” about the company’s future. Its revenue is still pretty much entirely dominated by one product—the iPhone—and we won’t know if it’s still growing until the next major release (likely the iPhone 7) has some traction. That probably won’t be until the last quarter of the year, after it’s been in the market for at least a full quarter.
What else does Apple have up its sleeve?
5:37: One solution could be to buy its way into a new market. Cook was asked if Apple would use its giant cash pile to buy any more significant companies. His answer: “In regards to M&A, we’re always looking for things that could complement what we’re doing,” suggesting that Apple might “buy something larger” than it has in the past if it excites the company and fits with its corporate culture.
5:44: Cook was asked where in the world there was room for growth, given the soft China numbers. Cook suggested India in the future, where right now the market is entirely dominated by low-end, non-4G smartphones, which it does not really compete in. “The market potential has not been as great there. India is where China was seven to 10 years ago,” he said. “I think there’s a great opportunity there.”
Apple doesn’t break out numbers for India, but it’s included in its “Rest of Asia Pacific” revenue line, which fell 25%—to about $3.2 billion for the quarter—compared to the same quarter last year.
6:01: Tim Cook said Apple Music, which launched about 9 months ago, now has 13 million paying subscribers. For reference: Spotify $SPOT has about 30 million subscribers, but that’s quite an impressive jump from nothing in less than a year for Apple’s streaming service.
6:04: And that’s it! The call is over. Check back for further coverage of Apple’s earnings later, and enjoy your evening!
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported Apple’s revenue for its “Rest of Asia Pacific” region.
