LOS ANGELES — (CNN) Apple announced that it had the most profitable quarter in American history. Yet it has reached the end of its era of unprecedented growth.
Shareholders took a deep breath after Apple released its quarterly financial report Tuesday, as the worst of their fears were not realized. IPhone sales rose last quarter, as did profits and sales. Sales in China were also strong.
Growth was exceptionally hard to come by in the last quarter of 2015, particularly as iPhones just barely beat out sales from a year earlier.
Investors worried that iPhone sales might actually fall for the first time in history, as Apple suppliers have been cutting production of iPhone components left and right, citing weaker demand.
And even though Apple managed to beat its record quarter from a year earlier, Apple said that it believes sales in the current quarter will fall for the first time in 13 years.
Here’s how Apple’s past quarter stacked up against the previous year.
iPhone
Final quarter of 2014: 74.5 million iPhones sold
Final quarter of 2015: 74.8 million, up less than 1%.
Apple posted record iPhone sales in the last quarter — barely.
iPad
2014: 21.4 million iPads sold
2015: 16.1 million, down 25%
IPad sales have fallen for eight straight quarters.
Mac
2014: 5.5 million Macs sold
2015: 5.3 million, down 4%
Wall Street analysts were expecting Apple to sell a record 6 million Macs. PC sales fell broadly last quarter, but Apple had been bucking the overall trend
Profit
2014: $18 billion
2015: $18.4 billion, up 2%
Apple’s quarterly profit was better than expected and the most profitable quarter in corporate history.
Sales
2014: $74.6 billion
2015: $75.9 billion, up 2%
Sales were also a quarterly record for Apple. In 2014, Apple ranked No. 5 on the Fortune 500 list of companies with the most revenue.
China sales
2014: $16.1 billion, making up 22% of Apple’s total sales
2015: $18.4 billion, up 14%, making up 24% of Apple’s total sales
China is still growing, just not as strongly as it had been. Sales in China nearly doubled a year earlier.
This quarter’s sales
First quarter of 2015: $58 billion
First quarter of 2016: $50 billion to $53 billion
The last time Apple’s sales fell year over year was March 2003. As much as investors were concerned about what Apple will say about the past quarter, many are even more focused on the current quarter.
Cash
Third quarter of 2015: $206 billion
Fourth quarter of 2015: $216 billion
Apple posted another record cash hoard. Some critics would like to see Apple use that cash to buy up assets that will help the company grow stronger.
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