Despite iPhone decline, Apple logs record quarter

Riding once again on its Services and Wearable business even as iPhone sales dropped 9 per cent, Apple has posted a revenue of $64 billion an increase of 2 per cent from the year-ago quarter for its fiscal 2019 fourth quarter that ended on September 28.

Services revenue hit an all-time high of $12.5 billion while global sales accounted for 60 per cent of the quarter's revenue.

We concluded a groundbreaking fiscal 2019 with our highest Q4 revenue ever, fueled by accelerating growth from Services, Wearables and iPad," said Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

Apple's profit dipped 3 per cent to $13.7 billion, but the $3.03 earnings per share(EPS) met analyst projections.

With customers and reviewers raving about the new generation of iPhones, today's debut of new, noise-cancelling AirPods Pro, the hotly-anticipated arrival of Apple TV+ just two days away, and our best lineup of products and services, we're very optimistic about what the holiday quarter has in store," Cook elaborated.

Apple forecasts revenue between $85.5 billion and $89.5 billion for its fiscal 2019 first quarter and operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.8 billion.

Our strong business performance drove record Q4 EPS of $3.03 and record Q4 operating cash flow of $19.9 billion," said Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO.

We also returned over $21 billion to shareholders, including almost $18 billion in share repurchases and $3.5 billion in dividends and equivalents, as we continue on our path to reaching a net cash neutral position over time," he added.

The company is set to launch its video streaming service Apple TV Plus on November 1.

( With inputs from IANS )