Apple's 'Other' segment swings positive for first time, suggests strong Apple Watch performance
Mikey Campbell
Since lumping devices like iPod, Apple TV and Beats hardware together under an umbrella accounting category named "Other products" in January, Apple has only seen the segment bleed out. That ended Tuesday when the company announced "Other" jumped 56 percent sequentially during the third fiscal quarter of 2015, attributed at least in part to Apple Watch sales.
Investors and industry pundits alike have been waiting for Apple's "Other" results since the company announced it would add Apple Watch to the category instead of breaking those numbers out into a separate segment.
According to Apple's published earnings, revenue from the catchall category reached $2.64 billion, a positive sequential change of 56 percent and year-over-year change of 49 percent. Since Apple Watch sales kicked off in April, quarter-over-quarter results relate more directly to the wearable's impact. During an investor conference call, CFO Luca Maestri said Apple Watch accounted for over 100 percent of category growth, which "more than offset" losses attributed to iPod.
"Other" helped push overall revenue up 33 percent, which CEO Tim Cook said was Apple's fastest quarterly growth in three years.
Despite speaking at length on Apple Watch merits, uses and speedy adoption, Cook expectedly declined to mention exact sales numbers during Apple's quarterly conference call. The company does not plan to break out numbers at this point as it wants to keep competitors also building smartwatches in the dark.
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