Apple released new earnings: Q1 net profit increased by only 2% too dependent on iPhone

The smart hardware industry is experiencing growing troubles.

On the evening of January 26, Apple released its first-quarter results for the 2015-2016 fiscal year ending December 26, 2015. The report showed that Apple's first-quarter revenue was $75.9 billion, up 1.7% from $74.6 billion in the same period last year; net profit was $18.4 billion, up 1.9% from $18 billion in the same period last year. Apple's first-quarter revenue and net profit both reached record highs, but the growth rate has slowed significantly.

Among them, Mac sold a total of 5.31 million units, down from 5.52 million units in the same period last year, and revenue was US$6.74 billion, down 3% from the same period last year. Iphone sold a total of 74.8 million units, up 0.4% from the 74.5 million units in the same period last year, lower than the estimated 75 million units. iPhone revenue was $51.64 billion, up 1% from $51.2 billion in the same period last year.

For this transcript, Apple CEO Cook said that iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV sales reached a record high, indicating that Apple is still striding forward. But the second quarter will be the most difficult quarter, because the company's iphone supply is still tight in the same period last year, and the current market environment of Apple is different from the same period of last year, all countries are in trouble.

The industry has thus shown a bit of concern, that Apple's rapid growth momentum will be stagnant, and smart hardware manufacturers, including domestic brands, will also face bottlenecks in development.

It is worth noting that although Apple's growth in this quarter is only a single digit, China's growth is still strong, and it deserves to be Apple's biggest assist.

Data shows that Greater China's revenue still ranked first, with the total revenue of $75.9 billion, Greater China contributed $18.373 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14%. In addition, sales in the Indian market increased by 76% year-on-year; sales in many Western European countries increased by 20% year-on-year.

This shows that although China's consumption growth slows down, the Greater China market is still in a leading position in Apple's revenue structure.

Cook said in an analyst conference call that the Chinese market is still the focus of Apple. Although he has realized the weakness of the Chinese market, Cook and his management currently do not agree with the expected view that the Chinese market will be extremely bleak. "If we can make great products, we can attract enough users to buy. In the Chinese market, 50% of iphone buyers are still the first buyers."

He believes that the number of middle class in China is less than 50 million in 2010, but will reach 500 million by 2020. This is a huge opportunity. Apple will continue to expand its channels in the Chinese market.

Although Apple's revenue and net profit have reached record highs, the capital market does not seem to buy it. After entering 2016, Apple's share price has continued to fall more than 5%. Apple's low tide is only a microcosm of the industry.

According to market research firm Gartner, in the third quarter of 2015, worldwide sales of mobile phones sold to end users totaled nearly 478 million units, an increase of only 3.7% over the same period in 2014.

At the same time, the continued growth of emerging markets has also driven the sales of local brands to strengthen. Brands such as ZTE, Huawei, and Xiaomi have also shown good development momentum in emerging markets.


In an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald, Zeng Wei, a consultant in the communications industry, said that domestic manufacturers are gradually getting rid of the positioning of the low-end market and moving to the high-end market, both in product design and pricing. And Apple launched a challenge, which is a significant change in the domestic mobile phone market. "These factors will affect Apple more or less. In the next two or three years, Apple will have to consider how to make greater innovation."

Fu Liang, an independent IT telecom analyst, believes that the gap between iphone and other brands that currently account for nearly 70% of Apple's sales is shrinking. Take iphone6 ​​as an example. Although it is a good product, it is difficult to support the ecology of the Apple industry chain and the healthy development of the company.

Indeed, when Apple, a hard-to-find, is in a slowdown, it is time for Cook and his team to make a difference to imagine how to introduce more disruptive products.