In its quarterly earnings call covering Q4 2015, Apple has announced significantly higher profits than expected, bolstered mostly by strong growth in China. Analysts had expected the tech giant to earn $1.88 per share on $51.11 billion in revenue, according to Thompson-Reuters, and instead they reported $1.96 per share on $51.5 billion in sales.
Even though profits were up considerably from expectations, Apple shares are trading flat or slightly down in after-hours trading due to the way in which the profit was generated. Apple had sold fewer iPhones and iPads than analysts predicted, 48.04 million and 9.88 million respectively. Sales in greater China rose a staggering 99 percent from the previous year by $12.52 billion, but that figure was slightly down from the previous quarter.
Tim Cook was careful to emphasize that iPhone shipments in China had increased by 87 percent from the previous year and that Apple saw its highest-ever rate of users switching from Android devices.
But despite the broadly positive figures, it seems that Apple’s financials may just be beginning to show the same wear that has plagued Samsung in recent quarters, with the smartphone market maturing and fewer potential new users to drive explosive growth.