Mark your calendars! Apple is set to hold its Q4 2024 earnings call on October 31. This event will likely provide initial insights into how the new iPhone 16 is performing in terms of sales.
This fiscal quarter encompasses the months of July through September. Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 models began on September 13, with the devices hitting Apple Store shelves on September 20, meaning that the sales from the launch period will factor into this quarter’s revenue.
That said, Apple typically does not disclose specific unit sales figures and does not differentiate between pre-launch and post-launch sales revenue, so analysts will only receive a general idea of the newest models’ market reception.
While Apple has moved away from providing detailed guidance for upcoming quarters, previous earnings calls have offered some insights into the company’s expectations.
We are anticipating our revenue for the September quarter to grow on a year-over-year basis at a rate comparable to what we experienced in the June quarter.
This growth rate stood at 4.87%, indicating that Apple expects relatively stable revenue compared to last year. This poses a contrast to the anticipated upgrade wave as users of older models might flock to the iPhone 16 to leverage the new features in Apple Intelligence, given that only the two iPhone 15 Pro models are capable of utilizing these AI capabilities.
Apple’s CFO, Luca Maestri, also highlighted that comparing year-over-year performance can be complex due to the diverse contributions from various product lines.
When considering the Mac segment, we face a challenging comparison due to the previous launch of the 15-inch MacBook Air, which we fully impacted during the last year’s quarter. Similarly, the iPad segment reported a remarkable 24% growth in the June quarter thanks to the recent launches of the iPad Air and iPad Pro.
As expected, Apple foresees continued growth in its Services segment.
We anticipate that Services revenue will see double-digit growth, reflecting similar trends to what we reported in the first three quarters of this fiscal year.
Image credit: Apple
