iPhone sets quarterly revenue record in China; Apple CEO Cook ‘very optimistic’ about Chinese market

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, visiting Apple CEO Tim Cook, left, was greeted by Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang prior to their meeting in Beijing on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Cook was in Beijing after attending the CEO conference of the Third Belt and Road Forum which was held on Oct. 18.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is “very optimistic” about China as iPhone set a new all-time quarterly revenue record in mainland China for Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter, ended September 30, 2023.
Ian King and Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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“China is an incredibly important market,” Cook said during a post-earnings conference call with analysts. “And I’m very optimistic about it.”
The iPhone 15 went on sale on Sept. 22 — only about a week before the quarter ended — so the latest results only provide an early sense of how the device is doing. Investors will get a clearer picture when Apple reports its holiday results early next year. On Thursday, Apple projected flat revenue overall for the December quarter — a sign potentially that the Chinese market remains a question mark.

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MacDailyNews Take: Horseshit.
Apple’s December quarter this year is a week shorter than last year – a salient fact not mentioned anywhere at all in the Bloomberg News article either purposely or incompetently. We guess it was purposely because that fact destroys the article’s narrative, as telegraphed by its headline, “Apple’s CEO Struggles to Soothe Concerns About iPhone in China.”

If the overall China smartphone market is contracting — as analysts have said — Apple’s results suggest that it’s winning market share, Cook said. He also touted that the company is opening a new store in China this week. It’s coming to Wenzhou in the Zhejiang province and will be the company’s 46th in the region.
The Cupertino, California-based company added that its services business also enjoyed record sales in the region.
Cook was just in China last month and said he “couldn’t be more excited” about the interactions he had with customers and employees.

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MacDailyNews Take: The bearish articles about Apple’s forecast either ignore that this year’s December quarter has one less week vs. last year, as Bloomberg News did here, or quickly glosses over it which is why, last night, we posted the article headlined: “Apple expects December quarter revenue to ‘be similar to’ last year despite one fewer week.” Similar revenue in less time means revenue growth. Duh.
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Last December quarter, Apple generated $117.2 billion in revenue in a rare 14-week quarter. That’s $8.371 billion per week. This December quarter, Apple expects to generate similar revenue in the usual 13-week quarter. That’s $9.015 billion or $644 million more per week on average year over year. Growth.
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Anyone who tells you differently is either fomenting, not fully informed (perhaps they only read Bloomberg News), or obtuse.
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Here’s Patrick Seitz reporting the issue properly for Investor’s Business Daily: “For the current quarter, Apple expects total company revenue to be ‘similar to last year,’ Maestri said on a conference call with analysts. He noted that the December quarter this year will last the usual 13 weeks, whereas the December quarter a year ago spanned 14 weeks.”
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