Apple closes in on $1trn market cap as it posts record third-quarter earnings

Revenues weigh-in at $53.3bn as punters scoop-up iPhone Xs and Apple Watches

Apple has reported record third-quarter revenues, weighing in at $53.3 billion and up by 17 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Net income was up by 32 per cent to $11.5 billion.

The results, which came-in at the upper end of financial analysts' expectations, could help propel Apple into becoming the world's first company with a $1 trillion market capitalisation. As of this morning, it is valued at $935 billion, compared to $867 billion for Amazon, and $846 billion for Google holding company Alphabet.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was, understandably, "thrilled to report Apple's best June quarter ever" and its "fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth".

He added that the results had been driven by "strong sales of iPhone, Services, and Wearables" and added, perhaps tantalisingly hinting at some new launches coming up in autumn, "we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline".

However, delving beneath the top line numbers revealed that while the iPhone sales figures were strong, in terms of unit sales they were only up by one per cent. This was attributed to strong sales of the £999 iPhone X, which was Apple's most popular smartphone in the quarter despite its hefty price tag and reports earlier this year that sales were struggling.

Apple's Services unit, which includes iTunes and the App Store, saw sales increase 37 per cent to $9.5bn. Apple Music sales were up 50 per cent on the year, as were cloud services revenues.

Apple's 'Other Products' category, which includes AirPods, HomePods and the Apple Watch, also grew strongly, with sales up by 37 per cent. During the company's earnings call, Cook pointed out that Apple Watch growth was "in the mid-40s range", marking a "record quarter" for the much maligned wearable.

Unit sales of the iPad, increased by one per cent, with 11.5 million iPads sold, but revenues fell by five per cent due to the introduction of a lower cost iPad, intended to help arrest declining sales of Apple's tablet computer. Likewise, the top-of-the-range iPad Pro is in need of a long overdue refresh, which is expected imminently.

Talking of products needing a long overdue refresh, Apple's neglect of its Mac and MacBook computers has also had an impact, with sales down by nine per cent to 3.7 million units sold in the quarter, while revenues fell by five per cent to $5.3 billion.

Apple has tried to make good these shortfalls in what used to be its core product set with refreshes of the MacBook Pro in mid-July, and an upcoming update to the entry-level MacBook Air expected imminently.

With Cook hinting about new products and services coming up, the autumn could make for a very interesting quarter indeed.