During his legally mandated financial earnings call, Tim Cook took the unusual step for Apple to offer the information that more is to come.
Apple's fourth-quarter sales were in line with expectations, but earnings were higher as Mac, iPads and Apple Watch all posted strong revenue growth. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of 73 cents a share on revenue of $64,7 billion.
Apple was forecast to report fiscal revenue of $64,7 billion in the fourth quarter, with non-GAAP earnings of 70 cents per share. Apple declined to provide a Q19 forecast due to uncertainty over the COVID-XNUMX pandemic.
CEO Tim Cook said Apple is in the midst of its "most prolific product launch period ever" with its 5G iPhone 12 lineup, as well as products that align well with remote work and education. Apple said international sales account for 59% of total revenue. Europe performed well in the quarter.
While fourth-quarter product sales declined slightly from a year earlier, services revenue rose to $14,55 billion from $12,51 billion a year ago.
For the year, Apple delivered sales of $274,5 billion on net income of $57,41 billion. By product line, fourth-quarter iPhone sales were $26,44 billion, up from $33,36 billion a year ago. Part of this decline was due to waiting for the iPhone 12 to launch.
Given the numbers reported without a significant number of sales for the iPhone 12, Tim Cook said, "without revealing too much, I can say that this year has some more interesting things in store". He didn't specify any products or services, Apple normally avoids talking too much.
Apple is about to start taking pre-orders for the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max. In addition, a MagSafe dual charger is due soon, and the Apple One bundle - plus Apple Fitness - is expected soon. Cook clearly wasn't talking about any of that, though. It is more likely that he was alluding to Apple's future processor-powered Macs, but he may also have been referring to the expected "AirTags".
