Apple posted bumper trading in the last three months of 2020 as people bought plenty of gadgets over the Christmas period.
For the quarter ended December 26 sales were up 21% to $111.44bn – beating analyst expectations of $103.28bn.
Quarterly earnings per diluted share were up 35% to $1.68. International sales accounted for 64% of the quarter’s revenue.
Sales of iPhones increased amid the release of its new iPhone 12. iPhone sales exceeded estimates of $59.80bn and hit $65.60bn. The new phone had convinced a record number of customers to switch to the company and upgrade, said executives from Apple.
According to Apple, sales in China were particularly strong. Sales in greater China surged 57%.
Mac sales reached $8.68bn, which was in line with analyst expectations of $8.69bn. Sales of iPads were $8.44bn, which is higher than the analyst expectations of $7.46bn.
Apple declared a dividend of 20.5 cents per share.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, commented: “We’re gratified by the enthusiastic customer response to the unmatched line of cutting-edge products that we delivered across a historic holiday season.”
Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said: “Our December quarter business performance was fueled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices.
“These results helped us generate record operating cash flow of $38.8 billion. We also returned over $30 billion to shareholders during the quarter as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time,” he added.