Apple has reported its best ever fourth Quarter results, with 12% revenue growth and a stunning 39m iPhones sold during the 3 months to September. The results beat expectations in almost every metric, the one shortfall being iPad, which declined by 13%.
For a company that turned over $183 billion in the full 12 months still to be able to deliver double digit growth is pretty remarkable. Add to the equation that the iPhone - which represented 56% of the revenues in Q4 - had still not seen the iPhone 6 ship in China during the quarter, and that Apple reported lower-than-average iPhone channel inventories, and the scene is set for another stunning quarter this Christmas.
The results represent good news for Apple resellers in Europe at several levels. Firstly high-profile news from Cupertino always creates a positive momentum in the market, making the job of selling Apple products that much easier.
Secondly Europe can be proud of delivering the strongest regional performance for the company, with 19% growth YoY, meaning that EMEA represented 23% of the business. Factor in the retail Apple Stores - which are reported separately to the geos - and this rises to around 26%. Europe saw a total of 9 new Apple Stores open during the previous 12 months - less than a 10% increase - meaning that the bulk of Apple’s growth came from the independent channel.
Thirdly, and most encouragingly, was the growth of the Mac business: 21% in units, 18% in revenue, over the year, making it once again a larger business than the iPad. Mac is the most important product line for Apple resellers, and delivers better margins than iPad, as well as much greater opportunities for add-on sales and support. So to see this category performing well - taking Apple into the top 5 vendor bracket globally for the first time since the Apple II - is a great story for the channel.
Meanwhile the iPad remains important - it may have declined, but that was before the refresh, with the launch of the iPad Air 2, which should help drive some recovery this quarter.
With a stunning new iMac, the Mac Pro shipping (and offering nice add-on sales for 4k displays), a strong portable lineup, and massive momentum running into the Christmas quarter, the outlook seems highly promising for the European Apple channel.
