Even Tech Titans Like Apple Feel Economic Impact: Latest Quarterly Report Reveals

It should go without saying that the economy has been in rough shape, and everyday Americans are largely facing the brunt of that.

And while it may come as little solace amid soaring rent, business closures, and the general struggle of day-to-day living, Americans aren’t alone in facing the brunt of economic hardships.

In fact, even massive tech titans do not appear to be immune to the current economic climate, as observed by Apple’s latest quarterly earnings report.

Unsurprisingly, Apple largely boasted in its news release about the report, bragging about record revenue in certain areas.

“Today Apple is reporting revenue of $90.8 billion for the March quarter, including an all-time revenue record in Services,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in the release. “During the quarter, we were thrilled to launch Apple Vision Pro and to show the world the potential that spatial computing unlocks.

“We’re also looking forward to an exciting product announcement next week and an incredible Worldwide Developers Conference next month.

“As always, we are focused on providing the very best products and services for our customers, and doing so while living up to the core values that drive us.”

“Thanks to very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, our active installed base of devices has reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments, and our business performance drove a new EPS record for the March quarter,”  APPLE CFO Luca Maestri added in the release. “Given our confidence in Apple’s future and the value we see in our stock, our Board has authorized an additional $110 billion for share repurchases.

“We are also raising our quarterly dividend for the twelfth year in a row.”

That all sounds fine and dandy, but Sr. Editor at The Verge, Tom Warren, broke down the raw numbers and removed all the corporate PR speak, and it certainly paints a less rosy picture.

Apple Q2 2024 earnings are out:

📱 iPhone revenue down 10%
💻 Mac revenue up 3.9%
📑 iPad revenue down 17%
⌚ wearable revenue down 10%
☁️ services revenue up 14%

$90.8 billion in revenue overall, down 4% pic.twitter.com/tMo7xr7IYY

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 2, 2024

Per Warren’s breakdown of the raw numbers, Apple took a particular hit across its popular line of iDevices.

iPhone revenue fell 10 percent, as did “wearable” (Apple Watch) revenue.

The biggest hit, however, came with Apple’s premium tablet device, the iPad. That costly device’s revenue fell a sharp 17 percent.

Those figures track with the aforementioned struggles of everyday people, given that all of those iDevices are truly luxury items. Many people are deciding that they can do with a cheaper phone, and without a tablet or watch.

In fairness, Apple’s home computers saw an uptick in revenue, at 3.9 percent — though that too could perhaps be explained through the increasing prevalence of work-from-home options.

But the big thing Apple appears to be hanging its hat on is its ballyhooed “services revenue,” which would be money accrued from subscriptions to Apple TV+ or Apple Music or Apple Arcade, among a myriad number of other services the tech titan provides. The revenue from those services saw an increase of 14 percent.

While Tim Cook may use buzz words like “all-time revenue record,” as Warren and the original news release both note, at the end of the day, overall revenue fell four percent, to a still eye-watering $90.8 billion.

Apple’s peers in the tech space, particularly the video game industry, have been hit hard by layoffs so far this year, as well.

It’s a grim scene, due in no small part to the ravages of the economy, and even industry conglomerates like Apple are clearly not immune to its effects.