by Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) – Apple reported quarterly sales and profit above Wall Street expectations on Thursday, thanks to an excellent start to sales of its new range of smartphones, designed to offer new intelligence-related features artificial (AI).

Over the July-September period, Apple’s total sales reached $94.93 billion, compared to a consensus of $94.58 billion according to LSEG data.

It posted quarterly profit of $1.64 per share excluding a massive fine paid in the European Union, while analysts on average expected an amount of $1.60 per share. Earnings per share are 97 cents taking into account the payment of a one-off fine of several billion euros.

Sales of iPhone, the flagship product of the Apple firm, increased in the third quarter by 5.5% to 46.22 billion dollars, beating the consensus which stood at 45.47 billion.

Other product ranges, however, disappointed, and sales in China over the period were lower than Wall Street expectations.

This helped keep Apple shares in the red in after-hours trading.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, told Reuters that iPhone 16 sales grew faster than iPhone 15 sales a year earlier, taking into account the same number of days on market. The iPhone 16 lineup went on sale just over a week before the end of the quarter.

He also said that customers were downloading the new version of the iPhone operating system, equipped with AI features, twice as fast as last year.

“We have had a good start,” said Tim Cook, adding that he had already received “excellent feedback from customers and developers”.

Apple’s AI strategy, revealed earlier this year, depends on the scale of sales of its new smartphones.

Rather than offering a separate application or service, the group has added AI functionality in the latest versions of its operating systems, intended mainly for the iPhone 16 but also for the so-called “pro” range of the iPhone. 15.

The launch of some AI features, however, was delayed, fueling questions from some Wall Street analysts about how quickly consumers would turn to new Apple devices.

In this regard, the data communicated on Thursday could allay concerns.

iPhone sales helped stabilize Apple’s total sales in China in the third quarter, falling less than 1 percent to $15.03 billion. A consensus carried out by Visible Alpha shows that analysts anticipated an amount of 15.78 billion.

While rivals Microsoft and Meta warned this week that investments to meet AI-related demand would continue to increase, Apple said its spending on property and equipment was up $2.91 billion. dollars to 9.45 billion in the third quarter. The group relies in part on data centers from third-party companies.

(Stephen Nellis and Akash Sriram; Jean Terzian)

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