The bonanza of the pandemic period came to an end for many technology companies. If it seemed that the boom was never going to end, that is no longer the case for the giants of the sector.
Also even for the most powerful. Apple reported this Thursday, after the close of the New York Stock Exchange, its first quarter with a decrease in sales and the most notable drop in revenue since 2016. Revenues in the last quarter of 2022, in the holiday period, were 5% lower than those obtained in the same period of the previous year, something that had not occurred since 2019.
In that period between October and December, the Cupertino firm had revenues of $117.2 billion, below analyst estimates, which were $121.4 billion, according to FactSet. Net income amounted to 30,000 million, 13% below a year ago, also lower than projections (31,000 million dollars).
The reduction in benefits was expressed in the data provided by all the major companies in the sector, such as Google, Meta Alphabet or Amazon, despite the fact that they continue to grow. In this sense, the digital supermarket surprised with better results than projected, with sales of 149,200 million, or 9% more than a year ago, beating expectations. But its profits were hurt by a loss of $2.2 billion from its investment in Rivian, the maker of electric vehicles facing numerous difficulties.
But Apple is undoubtedly the company that best illustrates the change of third on this occasion. Tim Cook, its executive director, explained that there are three factors that have had an impact on these results. Adding to a very strong dollar were production problems in China, which affected the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the general macroeconomic environment.
“We estimate that it would have grown with the iPhone but for the supply constraints,” Cook told The Wall Street Journal. “The macroeconomic situation is tougher than we thought, but it’s clear from looking at the numbers that the wind blew against us during the quarter,” he added.
The company encountered obstacles to maintaining demand for its latest iPhone model with the zero covid policy in China, causing disruptions at its Zhengzhou factory. But it managed to recover its supply chain and increase production, in addition to the fact that the Asian giant has lifted sanitary restrictions.
For this reason, analysts predict that Apple will have a first quarter of 2023 with better results, although some maintain concern that the firm with the bitten apple may see reduced demand for iPhones and other products.
