Apple Revenue Up 12% Thanks to 'iPhone'; China Sales Miss Estimates

Impact of Price Increases and Strong Sales

Apple posted better-than-expected results, with quarterly revenue rising 12% on price increases for major products, including the iPhone, and strong sales. However, revenue in China fell short of expectations, raising concerns.

Apple CEO John Ternus takes a selfie with a customer waiting in line to buy the new foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, at an Apple Store in Austin, Texas, on the 23rd of last month (local time). Reuters-Yonhap News.

According to the Financial Times (FT) and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on November 2 (local time), Apple’s revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 (July-September) rose 12% year over year to $114.5 billion. The result topped Wall Street’s forecast of $113.4 billion. Net income was $30.7 billion, and the gross margin was 47.9%.

Revenue from the iPhone, the company’s flagship product, rose 17.6% year over year to $57.6 billion, exceeding the mid-teens growth forecast Apple had previously provided. Mac computer revenue also came in at $10.8 billion, about $1 billion above market expectations.

Revenue in China rose about 20% year over year to $17.5 billion but fell short of the market forecast of $18.9 billion. Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said the shortfall was due to supply chain constraints that prevented the company from meeting demand.

Foreign media noted that the results reflected the impact of product price increases Apple implemented in response to a sharp rise in memory chip prices. Apple began raising prices on major devices in late June. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, launched in September, were priced about $100 higher than their predecessors.

Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, also appears to be gaining traction. Despite its steep price of $1,999 (about 2.7 million won) and mixed reviews, orders have poured in, pushing delivery estimates to as late as January 2027 shortly after launch.

However, slowing growth in the services business is a concern. Revenue from services, including the App Store, Apple Pay and iCloud, reached $31.6 billion. As regulators in various countries move to curb App Store fees, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, one of Apple’s major sources of fee revenue, is also directing users to pay through its own website, the WSJ reported.

Artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness is another challenge. Apple’s Siri AI, introduced last quarter, has been criticized as lagging behind rival AI agents that can autonomously perform multiple tasks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.