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Apple capped what CEO Tim Cook called “an extraordinary year” with record-breaking results, posting an all-time high revenue of $416 billion for fiscal 2025, fuelled in part by surging iPhone demand and an all-time revenue record in India. The tech giant wrapped up FY25 with a net profit of $112 billion, up 19.5% YoY. “We are heading into our busiest time of year with our best ever lineup. In the last few months, we have opened new stores in emerging markets like India,” Cook noted. The iPhone maker expanded its retail presence in India, opening two new stores in Bengaluru and Pune last month. The ongoing quarter is Apple’s best and most important quarter in terms of business performance, driven by strong sales during the holiday shopping season and the annual release of new iPhone models in the preceding September quarter. Last month, Apple introduced its lightest and thinnest smartphone to date, iPhone Air, alongside iPhone 17 and the high-performance iPhone 17 Pro models. It also launched the latest generations of Apple Watch and AirPods. The growth in the September-ended quarter was driven by the iPhone 16 family. The ongoing quarter will see the newly launched iPhone 17 lineup entering the mix to boost Apple’s business. However, the company is facing supply constraints on several iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models due to strong demand, said Cook. “If you look at the supply constraints, today, we are constrained on several 17 models. We are not predicting when the supply/demand will balance. We are obviously working very hard to achieve that,” he noted. Addressing the impact of tariffs, Apple’s chief said the expense has risen from $1.1 billion to a projected $1.4 billion. He explained that the new estimate reflects current tariff rates and policies, assuming a stable trade environment through the quarter. Overall performance The California-based company reported a 7.9% year-over-year (YoY) jump in revenue, raking in $102.5 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Q4 FY25), which ended on September 27. Apple expects total revenue in the December quarter (Q1 FY26) to grow by 10% to 12% YoY, which according to Apple CFO Kevan Parekh, will be the company’s best quarter ever. Considering the YoY projection, the revenue range for the ongoing quarter will be between $136.73 billion and $139.22 billion. In Q4 FY25, the iPhone maker’s bottom line surged 86.4% YoY to $27.5 billion. This figure showed a significant increase largely influenced by a one-time tax charge impact in Q4 FY24. Apple’s flagship iPhones continued to power the company’s performance, with global iPhone sales surging 6.1% YoY in the fourth quarter to reach $49 billion. “iPhone grew in the vast majority of the markets we track with September quarter records in many emerging markets, and an all-time record in India,” Parekh remarked, adding that the iPhone active installed base grew to an all-time high, setting a September quarter record for upgraders. Meanwhile, Apple’s services segment continues its steady ascent, cementing its role as a key revenue driver. In the fourth quarter, services revenue hit an all-time high of $28.8 billion, up 15.1% YoY. Apple expects services revenue to grow at a YoY rate similar to what it reported in FY2025. Mac sales also surged in the fourth quarter, soaring 12.9% YoY to $8.7 billion, driven by MacBook Air. “We grew in every geographic segment with strong double-digit growth in emerging markets,” noted Parekh. Despite strong growth in several categories, iPad sales remained flat, while wearables sales saw a decline in the quarter. iPad remained at $7 billion, while sales in the wearables, home, and accessories segment dropped 0.3% to $9.01 billion. However, total product revenue for the September quarter rose 5.4% YoY, reaching $73.7 billion. Earlier this month, Apple launched new versions of MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro, all powered by the M5 chip, which promises faster AI performance, sharper graphics, and greater energy efficiency. AI and Siri Although Apple has introduced a range of AI-powered features—from on-device language models to enhanced photo editing and writing tools—many of these remain unavailable to users. Notably, the much-anticipated Siri upgrades unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference last year—including more natural conversational abilities and on-device processing through Apple Intelligence—are yet to be released in a public software update. “We are also excited for our more personalised Siri. We are making good progress on it, and as we have shared, we expect to release it next year,” said Cook. “We are obviously creating Apple foundation models within Apple. We ship them on device, and use them in the Private Cloud Compute as well. And we have got several in development,” Cook noted, adding that the company continues to look for M&A opportunities if they would advance its AI roadmap. Unlike its peers Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon, which are investing tens of billions in AI-focused servers and data centre expansion, Apple’s capital spending has remained concentrated on manufacturing capacity, retail expansion, and ongoing operations, with only selective investments in AI. But that’s beginning to change. As Cook noted, the company continues to expand its investment in AI. “We are significantly increasing our investments in AI while continuing to invest in our product road map,” said Parekh, adding that for the December quarter, the company expects operating expenses to be between $18.1 billion and $18.5 billion. (Edited by Swetha Kannan)
