Apple earnings show it is in desperate need of a new hit product

The numbers: Bad. The company reported net profit of $9.55 billion for the second fiscal quarter, down 18% versus the same period of the prior year. Sales rose 11% to $43.60 billion. That’s the first time Apple has posted a year-on-year profit decline since the fiscal third quarter of 2003. Apple shipped 37.4 million iPhones, up 6.6% from the 35.1 million it sold in the prior year. And it moved 19.5 million iPads, up 65% from the prior year quarter’s 11.8 million.

By Matt Phillips1 min readUpdated July 21, 2022

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The numbers: Bad. The company reported net profit of $9.55 billion for the second fiscal quarter, down 18% versus the same period of the prior year. Sales rose 11% to $43.60 billion. That’s the first time Apple $AAPL has posted a year-on-year profit decline since the fiscal third quarter of 2003. Apple shipped 37.4 million iPhones, up 6.6% from the 35.1 million it sold in the prior year. And it moved 19.5 million iPads, up 65% from the prior year quarter’s 11.8 million.
The takeaway: In short, Apple is in desperate need of a hit device to convince the markets that the company’s innovative mojo didn’t die with Steve Jobs. The iPad mini was essentially a “me too” type device. And Apple shows no sign of wanting to dip its toes into the phablet craze. An iWatch seems to be a longshot, and if it ever does come people will likely hate it, according to Quartz’s Christopher Mims.

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