Apple Q1 2017 earnings: 78.3 million iPhones sold, “Dynamite quarter”, Cook says

As for the all-important iPhone sales, Apple said it sold 78.3 million iPhone units in the holiday quarter, beating out estimates for 77.3 million.

At 78.3 million iPhone units increased 5% year over year but assuming that the last week of December was 1/14 of sales the equivalent number of iPhones would be 72.7 million, down nearly 3% year over year.

APPLE returned to growth in Q1 as quarterly earnings and revenue easily beat analysts’ expectations, QUARTZ MEDIA reports.

Apple, however, did see revenue in its important China market drop 12 percent to $16.2 billion, according to the earnings report.

Apple services revenue grew strongly, led by record customer activity on the App Store, Cook said. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri promised guidance of $76 billion-$78 billion-that’s more than the record-setting $75.9 billion of Q1 2016.

On the flipside, though, is Apple’s other mobile device, the iPad, which saw a drastic year-on-year decrease of 19-percent for units shipped.

Mac sales were stable, at just over 5.3 million units. Meanwhile, sixty-four percent of Apple’s revenue during the quarter came from outside of the United States.

According to Apple’s CFO Luca Maestri, the Cupertino company returned almost $15 billion to investors, which brings the total payments to more than $200 billion. The company sold 5.37 million Macs, up a small 1.4 percent over the year-ago quarter. It was iPhone’s best quarter ever which following the company’s three straight quarters of lower year-over-year sales will certainly put serious doubts on the notion that Apple’s iPhone business may have finally peaked.

The positive result marks a turnaround for Apple after it posted a fall in profit in 2016, a first for the company in 15 years.

Apple Inc. shares rose $3.14 (+2.59%) to $124.49 in after-hours trading Tuesday. That was still well ahead of consensus projections for earnings per share of £3.21. Apple revenue claimed to $7.1bn which is generated with the help of its popular games, including Pokemon Go and Super Mario Run.