Apple reports fourth straight fall in quarterly revenue in its greater China market
But world’s most-valuable tech company recaptures top global ranking in smartphone shipments in the quarter to December
Apple has posted its fourth consecutive quarterly revenue decline at its greater China business, as sales were challenged by the strong US dollar and stiff competition in the smartphone market.
The world’s most-valuable technology company announced a 12 per cent decrease in combined revenue from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the quarter ended December 31 to US$16.23 billion, down from the record-high of US$18.37 billion in the same period in 2015.
That marked the sole blemish on an otherwise blockbuster quarter for the company, which reported a better-than-expected 3 per cent increase in global revenue to US$78.35 billion from US$75.87 billion a year earlier, on Tuesday after the close of the US markets.
“Our Greater China revenue was down 12 per cent [last quarter], and about four points of that was currency related,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook told analysts in a conference call.
Cook, however, maintained that the latest quarterly earnings for the company’s second biggest geographic market represented “a significantly better performance on every way you look at it versus what we had experienced the prior three quarters”.
“What we’ve seen is that iPhone 7 was the best-selling smartphone in China during the quarter, according to [research firm] Kantar,” he said. “[On] Singles’ Day, which is a huge day in China, as you know, we were the most popular US brand on Alibaba.”