Apple has recorded its first year-on-year sales decline since 2019 with overall revenue down almost 5.5 per cent compared to 2021.
The news is disappointing for the tech giant, which saw its share price drop slightly. However, the company’s services business — the section that runs Apple TV+, for example — saw its sales increase by 6.4 per cent year-on-year.
Apple’s core business of selling physical products was hit by a range of issues. CEO Tim Cook blamed a strong dollar, production issues in China that affected iPhone manufacturing following the country’s strict COVID crackdown, and overall macroeconomic environment.
However, it will be able to take heart in its growing services business. Cook has been trying to move Apple away from its reliance on selling iPhones and Mac devices for a while. Apple execs said that cloud services, payments including Apple Pay and Apple Card, and music performed well. Cook also added that Apple employees are testing a buy-now-pay-later feature that will be part of services.
The company is also rumoured to be mulling an entry into the adtech business following the release of its AppTrackingTransparency protocol. This would serve to make Apple’s business even more defensible in the long run.
