After witnessing a huge dip in revenue for the past four quarters, Apple has reported growth in its revenue and it's a record-shattering milestone in the company's history.
Apple in its report about the company's revenue of the quarter ending December 2016 has claimed to have made a whopping $78.4 billion and all-time record quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.36 against $75.9 billion and earnings per diluted share of $3.28 in the same period a year-ago. The company also added that the international product sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter's revenue.
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"We're thrilled to report that our holiday quarter results generated Apple's highest quarterly revenue ever, and broke multiple records along the way. We sold more iPhones than ever before and set all-time revenue records for iPhone, Services, Mac and Apple Watch," Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said in a statement.
"Revenue from Services grew strongly over last year, led by record customer activity on the App Store, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline," he added.
Did iPhone 7 series really helped Apple register record revenue?
Yes, on paper, Apple's record-shattering revenue is attributed to sale of more than 78.3 million iPhones, mostly iPhone 7 series, but there's no denying that Samsung's ill-fated Galaxy Note7 also had a major role.
Apple iPhone 7 series had no discerning changes in terms of looks, except the 7 Plus model's additional tele-photo camera on the back, while rest of the design language of the device remained relatively same. If the new models were placed with 2014 and 2015 series models side-by-side and looked from far, many would not be able to differentiate between them.
And, as far as internal hardware is concerned, the specifications were just moderate over its predecessor and had no path breaking features to moon over.
So, how, despite iPhone 7 series being so uninspiring attract buyers, you might ask. Well, simple logic dictates that Apple cashed in on the void left by the Galaxy Note7 in the previous quarter, which also happens to be year's shopping season, which includes post-Thanksgiving festive sales- Black Friday sale, Cyber Monday sale-- and pre-Christmas gift sale.
Galaxy Note7 had every possible feature, including innovative Iris scanner, improved stylus and more to claim the top gadget of the year, but the defective battery undid all the Samsung's hard work.
Also read: Here's what caused Samsung Galaxy Note7 to explode [Video]
We believe, Apple too knows that they had a lucky break with the Galaxy Note7 sale suspension and won't be sitting idle this year, as it will not only be facing tough competition from arch-rival Samsung, but also from Chinese major Huawei, PC software giant Microsoft (with Surface series phones) and former mobile pioneers Nokia (with HMD Global Oy) and Lenovo's Moto, formerly known as Motorola coming with new line of smartphones with creative innovations, especially in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based digital assistants.
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Android-creator Andy Rubin is also planning to launch his own mobile brand later this year.
Read more:Android co-founder Andy Rubin's Essential mobile to take on Apple, Google and Samsung in 2017; all you need to know
Coincidently, Apple is marking the tenth anniversary of the company's first iPhone launch this year and as per latest reports, the 2017 series iPhones -- iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and especially the special edition iPhone X (aka iPhone 8) look promising.
Though Apple iPhone 7s and the 7s Plus are expected to have increments in terms of internal hardware, the anniversary iPhone X series is expected boat load of upgrades, which includes all-new design language having high-grade and durable glass cover front and back with wireless charging ability and further increase the integrity of the iPhone structure, Apple is said to have incorporated stainless steel chassis on the edges.
The word on the street is that Apple will improve Siri's algorithm so that the voice communication between the user and the phone will be more natural on the lines of Google Assistant if not more.
Further, the physical home-cum-fingerprint scanner button, which used to dot in previous edition iPhones will be ditched in the iPhone X, as Apple intends to use special type of glass on the front-panel, where the device owners will be able to place their finger on any part of the screen and get the screen unlocked.
Watch this space for latest news on Apple and the anniversary iPhone X series.
