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Apple CEO Tim Cook has said India is an incredibly exciting market as the iPhone maker set a quarterly record in the country.

Apple saw growth in several emerging markets, including an “all-time iPhone revenue record” for India, said Cook, during the second-quarter earnings call. He said the firm witnessed “very strong double digits year-over-year growth” in the country.

Globally, the company said it has reported better-than-expected iPhone sales in the second quarter of the financial year ended April 1, 2023.

Apple’s net profit was $24.2 billion, compared to $25 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Its revenue decreased 3% to $94.8 billion from $97.3 billion in the year-ago period. Its total operating expenses in the quarter increased to $13.7 billion from $12.6 billion in the year prior.

Discussing the factors impacting its second-quarter performance, Cook noted, “During the March quarter, we continued to face foreign exchange headwinds, which had an impact of more than 500 basis points, as well as ongoing challenges related to the macroeconomic environment.”

India focus

India is a major focus for Apple, Cook said. “I was just there, and the dynamism in the market, the vibrancy is unbelievable. Over time, we have been expanding our operations there to serve more customers,” he said.

The iPhone maker recently opened its first two Apple stores in India, in Mumbai and Delhi—which are off to a “great start”, according to the Apple chief.

Rise in smartphone sale

Apple’s flagship smartphones have been driving the its sales. Its iPhone revenue rose to $51.3 billion in the second quarter from $50.6 billion in the year-ago period. 

iPhone sales increased from the year-ago quarter even as worldwide smartphone shipments declined about 15% during the same time, according to IDC estimates. This rise in sales indicates that part of the shortage and supply chain issues that had impacted Apple’s revenue-driving product during recent years had subsided. 

While overall iPhone sales strengthened, the revenue from products (including Mac and iPad) was at $73.9 billion, down 5% from $77.5 billion in the year-ago period. The dip in Mac and iPad revenue was in line with Apple’s forecast for both product categories.

On the other hand, Apple’s revenue from services reached a new all-time high to $20.9 billion during the quarter, up 5.5% year over year.

“We achieved all-time revenue records across App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, and payment services. And now, with more than 975 million paid subscriptions, we are reaching even more people with our lineup of services,” the Apple chief said.

Outlook

Apple expects the June quarter’s year-over-year revenue performance to be similar to that of the March quarter.

“Assuming that the macroeconomic outlook does not worsen from what we are projecting today for the current quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Chief Financial Officer of Apple.

Foreign exchange will continue to be a headwind and the company expects a negative year-over-year impact of nearly 4 percentage points, he noted.

Apple has not provided revenue guidance since 2020 citing uncertainty.

Shares of the largest US firm by market value rose nearly 2% in after-hours trading and continued climbing, as the company announced that its board had authorised an additional $90 billion for share repurchases.