The pandemic and iPhone SE have made Apple even richer

Apple has pandemic work-from-home orders and stimulus checks to thank for setting new all-time sales records across a number of its product categories.

Starting with the iPhone, which saw a decrease in sales last quarter, Apple revealed revenue for that product category grew by two percent during the third quarter.

“In April, we expected year-over-year performance to worsen, but we saw better than expected demand in May and June,” said CEO Tim Cook during the company’s earnings call. “We attribute this increase in demand to several interactive causes, including a strong iPhone SE launch, continued economic stimulus, and potentially some benefit from shelter-in-place restrictions lifting around the world,” he explained.

Yes, you read that correctly: stimulus packages. So, that means that while many of those unemployed due to the pandemic were struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills, some of us around the world were taking our government checks to Apple’s online store to buy … a new iPhone.  

Cook also stated that the company saw a higher number of people make the switch from Android to iPhone than in the previous year. Customers appear to be ditching their current devices for the new iPhone SE, in particular.

While Cook emphasized that the iPhone 11 is still the company’s most popular phone, he noted that iPhone SE’s “smaller form factor and an incredible, affordable price” helped boost revenue results.

Apple expects to see these same trends for its iPhone lineup continue into the September quarter, including the high demand for its latest budget phone. It’s also likely Apple will see an increase in revenue from its upcoming iPhone 12 lineup, too — even though availability of its supply is projected to be delayed by a few weeks.

Its services category was up 15 percent, generating another record for the quarter. Similar to last quarter’s performance, the App Store, Apple Music, Cloud Services, along with increased use of apps like iMessage, Siri, and FaceTime, helped contribute to the increase in revenue.

So, it’s clear that more people are relying on Apple’s services to get them through quarantine. Most users are likely downloading new programs (both business-related and educational) from the App Store, and also using FaceTime and iMessage to remotely stay in touch with family and friends. 

Meanwhile, Mac sales saw an uptick of 22 percent in revenue year-over-year, while iPad sales were up 31 percent — marking the highest quarter revenue for the product category that Apple has seen in eight years. That growth was due in part to a strong launch of the new iPad Pro (2020) and the MacBook Air.

Of course, the increase in revenue for these two categories, specifically, makes sense. Seeing as how most of us are working from home for the foreseeable future, investing in a new computer or tablet is easily justifiable during these work-from-home times.

The numbers weren’t as groundbreaking when it comes to its wearables growth which decelerated. But Apple still saw a 17-percent increase in revenue for the category year over year — setting a June quarter record in a majority of its markets.

Regardless of what happens next quarter, one thing is very clear: While some business are shuttering due to the financial blows caused by COVID-19, Apple is thriving.