Apple Records Most Profitable Quarter Ever As Sales Hit $111bn Despite COVID-19 Pandemic

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Apple has announced that it’s sales have hit another record, as families bought it’s latest phones, laptops and gadgets during the Christmas period.

Sales in the last three months of 2020 hit more than $111bn (£81bn) – up 21% from the prior year as the pandemic forced more activity online, fuelling demand for new technology.

Apple now counts more than 1.65 billion active devices globally, including more than 1 billion iPhones.

Apple said the record follows the release of its new iPhone 12 suite of phones, which convinced a record number of people to switch to the company or upgrade from older models.

The firm also said growth in China was particularly strong, helped in part by demand for phones with new 5G networks.

Sales in the firm’s greater China region, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, jumped 57%. In Europe, sales roles 17%, and they rose 11% in the Americas.

“The products are doing very well all around the world,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer. “As we look ahead into the March quarter, we’re very optimistic.”

As other companies have struggled to survive, Big Tech has flourished during the pandemic.

There are other reasons for some of these incredible figures. Certainly it seems iPhone enthusiasts were holding out for the new 5G enabled iPhone12.

Covid-19 means people are spending more time indoors buying things online, watching things online and chatting online.

Facebook on Wednesday January 27, also announced that increased online shopping during the pandemic helped lift ad revenue in the quarter by 30%.

The number of people active on its apps – which also include WhatsApp and Instagram – also rose to 2.6 billion daily, up 15% compared to 2019.