SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 30, 2019 –
Shares of Apple rallied in after-hours trading after the company reported that fourth quarter services revenue surged 19% to set an all-time high of $10.9 billion.
Apple – as it had warned early this month – missed its fourth quarter sales target on weakness in China. But the company delivered a fourth quarter forecast that exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
But a fair amount of the focus from Apple executives and analysts focused on the increase in services revenue and growth in Apple's active installed base, which also set a new record at 1.4 billion at the end of December, an increase of 8% from a year earlier.
As growth in Apple's iPhone sales has moderated and even declined, services are considered to be an important area that the company still has the potential for strong growth. Apple's services revenue has grown from about $8 billion in 2010 to more than $41 billion last year.
Apple Rallies on Services Growth