(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) It was good enough for Apple to stop the bleeding.
After not-so-encouraging results in the previous quarter and the historic misses during the second quarter of fiscal 2016, the tech giant on Tuesday posted slightly better-than-forecast results for its fiscal three-month period ended September 24, showing a quarterly revenue of $46.9 billion and net income of $9 billion.
While both were down 8.9 per cent and 19 per cent from $51.5 billion and $11.2 billion, respectively, in Apple's record-setting quarter last year, it still managed to beat Wall Street's estimates.
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Cupertino, California-headquartered Apple sold 45.5 million iPhones during the quarter - slightly above the 44 million predicted by analysts and 5.3 per cent lower than the 48.05 million a year ago. Revenue for the flagship device was at $28.2 billion, 13 per cent down from last year's $32.2 billion.
Still, it was not enough to save the company from posting a third straight quarter of declines in iPhone sales.
The newest iterations of the iPhone, the 7 and 7 Plus, began selling on September 16, so this is not be a true barometer of its performance yet. On the other hand, the effects of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, analysts say, may have some bearing on Apple's next results in January.
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iPads sold in the fourth quarter clocked in at 9.3 million, also slightly above views but still 5.9 per cent lower than the year-ago period's 9.88 million. Revenue was almost flat at $4.3 billion.
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For its Mac computers, Apple sold 4.9 million units, also below expectations and 14 per cent less than in fiscal fourth quarter 2015. Revenue dived 17 per cent to $5.7 billion from the year-ago period's $6.9 billion.
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Other products - which include the Apple Watch, iPod, Apple TV, Beats audio products and Apple-branded and third-party accessories - also fell, down 22 per cent from 2015's $3 billion to $2.4 billion.
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, however, revenue was up for all categories save for the iPad, which fell 13 per cent: iPhones were up 17 per cent, Macs climbed 10 per cent, services rose six per cent and other products were higher by seven per cent.
The real star of the results, however, was Apple's services unit; it was up 24 per cent at $6.3 billion from $5.1 billion in 2015, a fresh quarterly record. This include those from the company's Internet services, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services.
App Store revenue rocketed 43 per cent.
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Three of Apple's five regions posted revenue declines: the Americas by seven per cent, Greater China by 30 per cent and the rest of the Asia-Pacific by one per cent. Europe and Japan climbed three per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. China dropped 33 per cent in the previous quarter.
Sales of the iPhone in India - a market Apple has been eyeing - was up 50 per cent in fiscal 2016.
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Apple's cash-investment balance was up $5 billion at $237 billion as at September 24.
CEO Tim Cook began the conference call by saying that iPhone sales were up in 33 of Apple's top 40 markets, and that, "once more", a record number of Android customers have switched to the iPhone.
He also pointed out that they see "very strong growth" in its Apple Pay service, which is up a whopping 500 per cent year-on-year. Music revenue, meanwhile, jumped 22 per cent because of Apple Music's growth.
Analysts say that the decline in sales of the Apple Watch is weighing on the other products space. Apple has never disclosed any specific figures for its wearable device; on Monday, the IDC estimated that there were only 1.1 million Apple Watches shipped in the fourth quarter, which is down 71.6 per cent from the same period last year.
However, Cook said that it has been a "great start" for the Apple Watch Series 2.
The CEO also remained bullish on China despite the fall in the quarter
Cook added that there is "a lot of headroom" in India.
"People shouldn't just look at low per capita income when trying to gauge a market's potential," he said, referring to the vast size of the Indian market. He stressed that a young population, economic growth [and] low 4G penetration" can lift iPhone sales in the future there.
On mergers and acquisitions, Cook said that Apple is "open to acquisitions of any size that have strategic value [and] can help us deliver better products". He declined to elaborate further.
Chief financial officer Luca Meastri said that Apple's research and development spending is up 25%, a clear sign that the company is investing a lot for its future plans.
Apple shares ran up two per cent after the initial numbers, but then took a U-turn and dropped 2.1 per cent about half an hour into the conference call, which started at 12:30am Dubai time on Wedensday. The world's most valuable company slid 2.8 per cent in after-hours trading.
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