Apple has reported its sales over the last quarter and while iPhone sales are up, it doesn’t look like its Mac division is doing nearly as well. Quite the opposite, actually.
As The Verge reports, Apple iPhone revenue is up year-over-year despite the fact that only about a week or so of the iPhone 15 sale period was able to factor into these results. However, overall, the company is down 1% year-over-year as quarterly revenue was $89.5 billion.
“Today Apple is pleased to report a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record in Services,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says.
Of note, Cook didn’t mention the Mac there since that section of the business was down 34% year-over-year. That might be why the company pushed to release the M3 chips and new iMac and MacBook Pro earlier than usual this week, which also ties into what Cook notes next:
“We now have our strongest lineup of products ever heading into the holiday season,” Cook adds.
Now that the new M3 computers are available, Apple is positioned to offer both a new family-friendly iMac and high-end MacBook Pro heading into the holiday season. The company is also likely banking on riding renewed hype once reviews are published.
“I think the Mac is going to have a significantly better quarter in the December quarter,” Cook says in an interview with CNBC. “We’ve got the M3, we’ve got the new products, and we don’t have the compare phenomenon on a year-over-year basis.”
There are several reasons why the Mac division’s sales could be sluggish. Apple has a very large install base, but it might be having a hard time convincing old users to upgrade — that might be one reason why the company spent an inordinate amount of time comparing the new M3 processors to the old Intel laptops.
Another point worth mention is that gaming is playing a very large role in computing. PC gaming specifically has exploded in the last few years with both Sony and Microsoft investing in catering to that market.
For years, Apple put little to no emphasis on gaming performance but the last few months have seen a major shift in the company’s messaging. The iPhone 15 and the M3 announcements both put significant time on gaming performance, indicating that Apple is sensing that it can’t ignore that section of the market any longer.
Finally, M-series chips might be too good. The original M1-series chips still perform exceptionally well. Those who bought in to the M1 Pro and Max computers are likely feeling as though performance and reliability already fit their needs and upgrading is a luxury in an economy that isn’t necessarily making luxury purchases feel smart.