Apple says iPhone 17 demand helped lift quarterly revenue 17%

In short: Apple reported higher quarterly sales and profit, and said strong demand for the iPhone 17 was a main reason.

What happened

Apple said revenue for the quarter ending in March was $111.2bn. That was up about 17% from a year earlier and slightly above what analysts expected.

The company said iPhone sales rose more than 20% to $57bn. Apple’s finance chief, Kevan Parekh, told the Financial Times that the iPhone 17 family is the most popular iPhone line-up in the company’s history. Apple also said China was a key factor, with revenue in China reaching $20.5bn, up 28% year on year.

Apple’s services business, which includes the App Store and iCloud (online storage, like a digital filing cabinet), brought in $31bn. Net income, which is the profit left after costs, was $29.6bn, up about 19%.

Apple also announced a $100bn share buyback, which is when a company uses cash to buy back its own shares. It raised its dividend by 4% to $0.27 per share.

The results arrive as Apple prepares for a leadership change. CEO Tim Cook said last week he plans to hand over the role to hardware chief John Ternus in September.

Why it matters

Apple is still heavily dependent on iPhone sales, so a strong upgrade cycle can lift the whole company. At the same time, Apple said rising memory chip costs are starting to bite, partly because of growing demand for parts used in AI data centres (large buildings full of computers). That could affect prices and profits for popular devices over time.

Source: Financial Times