Apple hits record revenue of over $100 billion; Tim Cook calls it a historic holiday season

Tech giant Apple today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, which ended December 26, 2020. The company surpassed $100 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, breaking all past records.

Apple recorded revenue of $111.4 billion (up 21 percent), and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.68 (up 35 percent).

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said, “We’re gratified by the enthusiastic customer response to the unmatched line of cutting-edge products that we delivered across a historic holiday season."

The most recent devices coming in from Apple’s stable were in October last year which included the new iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Apple’s new iPhone revenue alone was $65.60 billion, a 17 percent jump when compared to last year.

Apple’s wearables, home and accessories category hit $12.97 billion, going up by 29 percent from last year. The other notable “growth engine” was Apple’s services business, up by 24 percent year over year to $15.76 billion.

“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,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO.

“These results helped us generate a 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," the CFO said.

Apple also highlighted that international sales accounted for 64 percent of the company’s sales.

In India, Apple captured the sixth spot in Q4 2020 with 171 percent YoY growth in Q4 and 93 percent YoY growth in 2020. According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, the launch of the iPhone 12, coupled with aggressive offers on the iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone 11 and online expansion drove this growth in the region.