Michal Marek After yesterday announcement of financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2015 was followed by a traditional conference call with Apple's top executives answering questions from analysts and journalists. During it, Tim Cook highlighted in particular the fantastic year-on-year growth of the iPhone, the rapid introduction of Apple Pay, the positive reception of new products and, for example, his activities in Europe. The Apple Watch and the plan to expand its sales to other countries also came under fire.
They can be really happy with iPhone sales in Cupertino. One of the most positive numbers is its 55 percent year-on-year growth. But Tim Cook is also pleased by the fact that current users of phones with a different operating system are much more interested in the current range of iPhones. About a fifth of existing iPhone users switched to the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. The iPhone did extremely well in developing markets, where sales grew by 63 percent year-on-year.
Achievements in service
The App Store also had a great quarter, with a record number of users making purchases. Ti also contributed to the record profit of this app store. The App Store grew by 29% year-on-year, and thanks to this, Apple achieved the highest overall profit from its services - $5 billion in three months.
Tim Cook also talked about the rapid adoption of Apple Pay and highlighted the deal with the Best Buy chain, with which Apple managed to establish a partnership. Already this year, Americans will pay with their iPhone or Apple Watch in all stores of this consumer electronics retailer. At the same time, Best Buy is part of it the MCX consortium, which allows its members to use Apple Pay prevented. In the summer, however, it seems that the exclusive contracts will expire, so Best Buy can also reach for Apple's payment service.
In addition to Apple Pay, Cook also praised the adoption of Apple's health-related services. Supported applications Health, a system repository for health data, is already more than 1000 in the App Store. In addition, the latest ResearchKit, with which Apple wants to revolutionize medical research. Through it, 87 patients have already participated in research.
Apple's CEO also touched on Apple's environmental efforts. Under Cook and Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environmental affairs, the company is trying to do as much as possible for the environment. The most recent evidence that Cook did not forget to mention is purchase of forests in North Carolina and Maine. Together, they cover an area of 146 square kilometers and are intended to be used for the ecological production of the iconic paper packaging for Apple products.
Apple also invested large amounts in two new data centers. These are located in Ireland and Denmark and are the largest centers for the company. Apple spent two billion dollars on them, and their main domain will be the consumption of energy from 87% renewable sources right from the first day of operation. Apple already uses XNUMX% renewable energy in the US and XNUMX% globally.
However, the company does not let up in its efforts and has also worked in China. In Sichuan province, Apple and several other partners will build a 40-megawatt solar farm that will generate far more energy than Apple uses in all of its Chinese offices and stores.
Cook also boasted that Apple is creating a respectable 670 jobs in Europe, most of which have come from the success of the App Store. It has generated $000 billion in revenue for European developers since its launch in 2008.
More watches in June
After all, investors are more interested in their own profits and thus above all in the success of Apple products. But even you had something to please Cook. The Apple boss expressed his excitement at receiving the new MacBook, which has only been on sale for two weeks. Apple also achieved huge success with the HBO Now service, which, thanks to a partnership with HBO, is offered exclusively on its iOS devices and Apple TV. Those interested in programs produced by HBO are no longer dependent on cable television services.
But now the focus is mainly on the Apple Watch, the latest addition to Apple's portfolio and the first product that was created from the beginning under Jobs' successor, Tim Cook. The top representative of Apple highlighted above all the excellent reception by developers, who have already prepared 3500 applications for the Apple Watch. For comparison, 2008 applications were prepared for the iPhone when its App Store launched in 500. Then in 2010, when the iPad came on the market, 1000 applications were waiting for it. At Apple, they hoped that the Apple Watch would be able to surpass this goal, and the current number of apps ready for the watch is therefore a huge success.
Of course, Cook also expressed enthusiasm for the interest in the Apple Watch and the positive reactions that appeared on the Internet after the first users tried it. The problem, however, is that the demand for watches is much higher than what Apple is able to produce. Cook justified this by saying that the Watch comes in many more variants than the company's other products. The company thus needs time to find out the preferences of users and adjust production to them. According to Cook, however, Apple has a lot of experience with something like this, and the watch should reach other markets at the end of June.
When asked about the Watch's margin, Tim Cook answered that it is lower than Apple's average. But it is said to be exactly what they expected at Apple, and according to him, it is quite normal that production costs are higher at the beginning of the production process. At Apple, they say, they first have to go through a learning phase, and production will become more efficient and thus cheaper over time.
Despite the decline in sales, Tim Cook also sees the situation surrounding the iPad as positive. Apple's boss has openly admitted that larger iPhones are having a negative effect on iPad sales. Small, light MacBooks also harm it in the same way. However, there are no bad people at Apple, and according to Cook, the situation will stabilize in the future. In addition, Cook still sees great potential in the partnership with IBM, which is supposed to bring iPads into the corporate sphere. However, the project is still at too early a stage to be able to bear really visible fruit.
Cook then said that he is extremely pleased with the iPads in the statistics, where the tablet from Apple absolutely crushes the competition. These include user satisfaction, which is almost 100 percent, and in addition, statistics on the use and activity of iPads sold.
Source: iMore
Photos: Franck Lamazou
Thanks for the great article, I would just like to point out that the App Store as such has been available since July 2008.
That's right, it's in the article, but at one point the hand slipped on the keyboard. Thanks, fixed.