Apple posted record earnings for the first quarter of 2022 despite supply chain constraints, raking in a profit of $34.6 billion for the quarter and revenue of $123.9 billion.
CEO Tim Cook said the record results were made possible "by our most innovative lineup of products and services ever," and they were happy to see the response from customers worldwide.
In an earnings call later, Cook said there were now more than 1.8 billion active Apple devices, which was another record.
Also Read: iPhone, Mac, Services record all-time high quarterly revenue for Apple
Strong demand for the iPhone 13 line-up
Cook also pointed out the strong demand for the iPhone 13 line-up. "We had several of the top-selling models in various markets," said Cook on the call (via Seeking Alpha).
The iPhone 13 was among, "the top 5 in the US and Australia, the top 4 in Urban China, 2 of the top 3 in the UK, 3 of the top 4 in France and Germany and 4 of the top 6 in Japan".
This was despite the constraints imposed by the supply chains, and Cook said the company was steadily gaining more share in the smartphone market as well.
Supply constraints on legacy nodes
Nearly all of Apple's product segments posted revenues that were higher than the last quarter, with the exception of iPad.
Cook said Apple struggled with supply chain constraints on legacy nodes in December. Legacy nodes are parts on a device that use older manufacturing methods, compared to newer fab designs like the processor.
"The issue with iPad, and it was a very significant constraint in the December quarter, was very much on these legacy nodes that I had talked about. Virtually all of the problem was in that area," said Cook on the call.
He added that Apple expects the situation to improve in March compared to December.
Also Read: Apple teases metaverse AR plans, stock jumps
Future Metaverse plans
Responding to a question about the Metaverse, Cook said that Apple was a company that led in innovation, and was always looking for opportunities to explore emerging technology.
Cook said that Apple had already, "spoken at length about how this area is very interesting to us," and that there were, "over 14,000 AR kit apps in the App Store, which provide incredible AR experiences for millions of people today".
He said that Apple as a company sees, "a lot of potential in this space and are investing accordingly."
Strong iPhone sales in China
Answering a question about the Chinese market, Cook said Apple was very pleased with its growth in urban China, recording an increase of 21 percent in terms of sales since the last quarter.
Cook said iPhone performance "was super impressive with all-time revenue records and a record number of upgraders and strong double-digit growth in switchers on iPhone, which is very important to us. And as I've mentioned before, we had the top 4 selling phones in urban China. And so there's a lot of good there".
Inflation driving up prices
Reacting to high inflation in the United States, Cook said, "I think everybody’s seeing inflationary pressure, there’s no two ways about that."
Logistics, in particular, were "elevated in terms of the cost of moving things around. I would hope that at least a portion of that is transitory, but the world is -- the world has changed, and so we'll see", he said.
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