Apple’s Q4 2015 Results ⇥ macstories.net

Huge revenues and huge sales showing, once again, that Apple’s pricing strategy and a lack of so-called “budget” options works for them. Some things I noticed:

  1. 61% year-over-year growth and 15% sequential growth in the “other products” category bodes well for Apple Watch sales. “Other” products, in Apple’s parlance, consists of Apple TV, Beats, iPods, and accessories, in addition to Watches, and there were no major announcements or introductions in this quarter in any of those product lines. iPod sales are almost certainly lower than in the year-ago quarter, too.

  2. iPhone sales don’t look as impressive in terms of sequential gain compared to the year-ago quarter because Q4 2015 ended September 26, the same day that the 6S went on sale. I imagine Q1 2016 will be impressive.

  3. iPad sales were the lowest they’ve been in the past three years, perhaps longer. The forthcoming iPad Pro isn’t available yet, and is likely to be less of a large volume product. The iOS 9 enhancements are powerful, and make a difference for anyone who has purchased an iPad since the A7 generation. I wonder to what extent the long-term support of older iPads ultimately impacts current-generation sales.

  4. Apple Pay is coming to Canada and a bunch of other countries soon, kind of:

    We’re thrilled to announce today that we’re partnering with American Express to bring Apple Pay to eligible customers in key global markets, so even more people can experience the easy, secure, and private way to pay. Apple Pay will be available to eligible American Express customers in Australia and Canada this year, and is expected to expand to Spain, Singapore, and Hong Kong in 2016.

    An Amex-only deal is likely beneficial to Apple — Amex customers are typically higher earners and spenders — but weak sauce for the more egalitarian world of a general-purpose payments system. I’d imagine Amex customers are more likely to own iPhones, especially recent ones, but I would wager that most iPhone owners, especially outside the U.S., do not have an Amex card.

    Earlier this month, in fact, TD Canada Trust mistakenly made public their Apple Pay promotional pages. It’s clearly coming as soon as it can to other partners across Canada, but it seems like the Amex deal is the only one confirmed and, therefore, the only one that Apple could announce today.