Q3 revenue for 2026 stood at $109.4bn, up 16pc year-on-year.
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has warned of potential supply issues for iPhones and other Apple products in the months ahead despite the company reporting what Cook called its “strongest June quarter ever” yesterday (30 July).
A more cautious than anticipated outlook for Q4 – revealed on a conference call with analysts and investors following the publication of Q3 results – forecast growth of between 9pc and 11pc, less than the analyst benchmark of more than 12pc.
Apples shares fell by around 7pc last night on the back of the forecast.
Third fiscal quarter revenue for 2026 stood at $109.4bn, up 16pc year-on-year. Sales for iPhones came in at $54.3bn, Mac computers at $10.4bn, iPads at $6.2bn and wearables at $7.9bn for the three months ending on 27 June.
“We continue to expect high levels of demand. However, with less flexibility in the supply chain, we expect the impact from the supply constraints to increase significantly sequentially,” Cook said on the call.
“The DRAM market has three suppliers. Obviously, if there were more suppliers, that would be good, and it would help us on the supply side and perhaps the pricing side. It’s unclear on the pricing side, but it could help on the supply side. And so we’re evaluating all options.”
He said that beyond September, the market pricing for memory would continue to rise, resulting in “an increasing impact on our business”.
He equated the current surge in the cost of and demand for memory chips to a “100-year flood”, while also noting that demand for Apple’s phones and computers was currently even higher than anticipated.
“It’s an incredibly strong iPhone and Mac product cycle that has really yielded a demand beyond our expectation,” he said.
Last month, Apple raised prices on a variety of its product lines. At the time, a company spokesperson told news publications that “rapid expansion of AI data centres has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage”, adding that Apple has “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly”.
Earlier this week, the company launched a new leasing service for devices including iPhones, Macs, iPads and Apple Watches. The company posted its “best March quarter ever” three months ago, driven largely by demand for iPhones.
On 1 September, Tim Cook will be replaced as CEO by John Ternus, the company’s current senior vice-president of hardware engineering.
“There is so much opportunity for us with everything that’s happening in this space, and we’re just really focused on our plans and very excited about it,” Ternus said during yesterday’s earnings call.
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