Apple reports an incredible quarter with iPhone sales up 65.5% and iPad revenue soaring by 79%

Apple has announced the results of its fiscal second quarter for 2021 and the tech giant smacked the cover off of the ball. The company reported record revenues for a March quarter of $89.6 billion, up 54% on an annual basis. Sales of the Apple iPhone amounted to $47.94 billion, up a very strong 65.5% from the $28.96 billion in handset sales Apple recorded during the same quarter last year.

The iPhone 12 series was the first to support 5G connectivity, which helped boost sales on a year-over-year basis. In addition, Apple redesigned the device replacing the rounded sides with a flat aluminum frame that makes it resemble the popular iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s models. Speaking about the iPhone 12 series, CEO Tim Cook said, "iPhone 12 is the most popular, but we did see very strong sales of the Pro portion of the family as well. So the revenue that you’re seeing is a function of unit growth and revenue-per-unit growth."

Continuing the strong comeback started last year thanks to the pandemic, iPad sales soared 79% during the fiscal second quarter from $4.37 billion to $7.81 billion. Employees working from home and kids attending online classes helped create strong demand for Apple's tablet line. And after being used for work or school, the slates were used for entertainment including the streaming of movies and music, to play games, and more.

Services revenue increased 26.6% to $16.90 billion from $13.35 billion. This business unit includes Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Pay, App Store, iCloud, AppleCare+, and more. The Wearables, Home, and Accessories unit, which includes two of Apple's category leading devices in the Apple Watch and AirPods, reported $7.84 billion in gross for a 24.8% increase compared to the previous year's top line of $6.28 billion.

Apple had a great quarter in China where sales amounted to $17.73 billion from $9.46 billion the year before for an increase of 87.4%. Sales in the Americas increased to $34.31 billion from $25.47 billion while European revenue went from $14.29 billion during last year's fiscal second quarter to $22.26 billion this year. Including the $7.74 billion it grossed in Japan and the $7.54 billion garnered in the rest of the Asian-Pacific region, Apple set new revenue records in all of its geographical regions.

Cook said, "This quarter reflects both the enduring ways our products have helped our users meet this moment in their own lives, as well as the optimism consumers seem to feel about better days ahead for all of us. Apple is in a period of sweeping innovation across our product lineup, and we’re keeping focus on how we can help our teams and the communities where we work emerge from this pandemic into a better world. That certainly begins with products like the all-new iMac and iPad Pro, but it extends to efforts like the 8 gigawatts of new clean energy we’ll help bring onto the grid and our $430 billion investment in the United States over the next 5 years."

During the fiscal second quarter, Apple had net income of $23.63 billion which was more than double the $11.25 billion net announced last year. On a diluted basis, earnings per share were $1.40 versus the 64 cents a share that Apple earned during the 2020 fiscal second quarter.

Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, said, "We are proud of our March quarter performance, which included revenue records in each of our geographic segments and strong double-digit growth in each of our product categories, driving our installed base of active devices to an all-time high. These results allowed us to generate operating cash flow of $24 billion and return nearly $23 billion to shareholders during the quarter."

Apple's shares initially rose to $138.41 in after-hours trading, but slipped back down to $136.32, up $2.74 or 2.05%. During the regular trading session, Apple closed at $133.58 for a loss of 81 cents or .60%. Apple also announced that it will buy back as much as $90 billion of its shares, up from the $50 billion it authorized last year.

The firm also announced a 7% gain in the dividend to 22 cents.