Apple Reports Record Q2 Earnings: Revenue Up 36%, iPhone Sales Up 50% (Comprehensive Report 2)

Q2 Sales of 94 Trillion Won... Operating Profit Margin at 43.3%
Net Income Doubled Compared to Same Period Last Year

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Apple’s Q2 revenue increased by 36% compared to the same period last year. As a result, Apple recorded its highest-ever Q2 revenue, significantly surpassing market expectations.

On the 27th (local time), Apple announced its Q2 (Apple’s own Q3) earnings reflecting this information.

Apple’s total revenue reached $81.41 billion (approximately 94 trillion KRW), exceeding Wall Street’s estimate of $73.3 billion (approximately 85 trillion KRW). Earnings per share were $1.30, far surpassing the forecast of $1.01.

Net income for Q2 was $21.74 billion (approximately 25 trillion KRW), a 93% surge from $11.253 billion (approximately 13 trillion KRW) recorded in the same period last year.

The operating margin was 43.3%.

Analysts attribute this “surprise performance” to double-digit growth in sales across all Apple products.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

iPhone sales reached $39.57 billion (approximately 46 trillion KRW), up 49.8% year-over-year.

Additionally, iPad ($7.37 billion) and Mac ($8.24 billion) sales rose 12% and 16% respectively compared to the previous year, driving Apple’s overall performance upward.

The services segment, which includes Apple Music, cloud services, advertising, and payment fees, also saw revenue increase by 33% year-over-year to $17.48 billion (approximately 20 trillion KRW).

Apple stated that the number of paid subscribers to its services reached 700 million, an increase of 150 million from the same period last year. This figure includes users who subscribe regularly to paid Apple applications.

Apple reported that revenue in the Greater China region, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, reached $14.76 billion (approximately 17 trillion KRW), a 58% surge year-over-year. However, some analysts note that this reflects a base effect due to lockdown measures in China last year amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Apple also said that revenue in the North American region rose 33% year-over-year to $39.57 billion (approximately 46 trillion KRW).

Although Q2 is typically considered an off-season, Apple’s sales exceeded expectations in this earnings report, showing better-than-anticipated results.

CNBC reported, “With remote work and distance learning continuing, Apple appears to have benefited from a positive spillover effect.”

Furthermore, Apple revealed a significant increase in new consumers trying its products for the first time. Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “Switchers?consumers moving from Android to Apple products?grew by double digits.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook
Photo by EPA Yonhap News

However, there are also forecasts that the ongoing global semiconductor supply shortage may negatively impact Apple product sales to some extent.

During the earnings announcement, CEO Cook said, “Due to the semiconductor supply shortage, the growth rate of iPhone and iPad sales in Q3 may be reduced.”

Apple CFO Luca Maestri also projected that Q3 revenue growth would be lower than the 36% recorded in Q2, citing semiconductor shortages and a slowdown in the services segment as key factors.

Apple announced it will pay shareholders a dividend of $0.22 per share.

Meanwhile, amid the industry-wide extension of remote work due to the spread of the Delta variant, Apple announced it will postpone its office return schedule from the originally planned September to October.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.