Apple Announces Record Quarterly Profit of $18.4 Billion

iPhone sales are slowing, but Apple’s profits are growing

apple 2016 first quarter iphone 6s plus review camera — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple’s year-over-year growth of iPhone sales has slowed. While it’s a wary sign for investors, the Cupertino company yet again toppled its own record for largest quarterly profits at $18.4 billion on $75.9 billion in revenue — a 1.9 percent increase from last year.

The record-breaking $18.4 billion is just $400 million higher than what the company announced it made during this period last year, however. That’s still an impressive 74.8 million iPhones sold in the first quarter of 2016, which ended on December 26. As Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the earnings call, that’s “over 34,000 [iPhones] sold an hour for 13 weeks.” But compared to last year, it’s a very small jump from 74.5 million.

That slow growth and Apple’s projection for the current quarter, which ends in March, is sure to have investors worried. Apple is projecting revenue of $50 to $53 billion, which is down from the $58 billion the company made last year. In pre-market trading, shares of AAPL were down about 4 percent.

“Beyond the short term, we remain confident about the long-term potential of the China market and are maintaining an investment plan,” Cook said, alluding to the slow economic growth in China, particularly Hong Kong.

Cook said the revenue earned in the first quarter is on par with the annual revenue of a Fortune 500 company, and went on to say that this quarter saw the largest switch of Android users to iOS.

The tech giant also announced that company has hit 1 billion active devices, including the iPad and Apple TV, not just the iPhone.

Apple said Apple Pay will soon be accepted at Exxon Mobile gas stations, and has seen a growth of more than 5 million contactless payment locations around the U.S. The company also set a quarterly record for Apple Watch sales, especially in December, and also saw 10 million paying subscribers to Apple Music in less than 10 months.

Apple’s financial position has also never been stronger, with $216 billion in cash, according to the company.

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