Apple reaches global install base of more than 1B active devices

Apple announced a major milestone as part of its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, noting that more than 1 billion devices pinged its servers over the three-month period ending in December.

The statistic was shared in supplemental material (PDF link) provided to investors alongside Apple's official quarterly earnings results, which were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. Apple included iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod touch, Apple TV and Apple Watch in its device count.

For the first fiscal quarter of 2016, Apple notched an all-time record $75.9 billion in revenue driven by 74.8 million iPhone sales. Profits hit $18.4 billion during the quarter, but the results left some investors concerned that iPhone demand is flagging.

In an attempt to allay fears, the company issued calculations pointing to currency headwinds. According to Apple, $100 of non-U.S. dollar revenue in the fourth quarter of 2014 is worth only $85 today. In effect, the company is saying revenues would have been $5 billion higher if it weren't for volatile foreign trade trends.

As for this quarter, Apple sold 5.3 million Macs, down 4 percent from 5.5. million a year ago. iPad sales were also down year over year at 16.1 million units, a decline of 25 percent. Apple does not break out Apple Watch and Apple TV sales, instead lumping those numbers together with iPod, Beats hardware and accessories in a category labeled "Other Products." CEO Tim Cook in today's earnings conference call said both Apple Watch and Apple TV saw record sales this past quarter.

32 Comments

roake 820 comments · 10 Years

About 8 years ago

A product line cannot grow forever. This is why Apple is attempting to branch into other markets. The trillion-dollar question is whether these endeavors will work out as planned; it's hard to knock it out of the park every single time.

Mr_Grey 118 comments · 8 Years

So by "billion" they probably just mean 1,000 million though. Still a ways to go before they hit a "real" billion. :)

roake said:

A product line cannot grow forever. This is why Apple is attempting to branch into other markets. The trillion-dollar question is whether these endeavors will work out as planned; it's hard to knock it out of the park every single time.

They could always reduce their huge profit margin to the same level as the other players, that would increase sales by a factor of ten probably. If the iPhone is becoming a commodity device, maybe it should be priced accordingly instead of as if it were some kind of precious gem.

jfc1138 3090 comments · 12 Years

Because not actually making money but simply pushing "numbers" is the key?

Good one: plus it would be hard to compete with Samsung in the non-profit smartphone segment where they have got such a lead.

ksec 1502 comments · 18 Years

1 Billion active devices, the next milestone would be 1 Billion Active iPhone.