Apple reported its best-ever iPhone sales — due largely to growth in China — but its shares stayed flat as investors worried about rising costs.
The $85.1 billion income for its flagship phone was “staggering,” CEO Tim Cook said, with overall revenues up 16% from the previous year, beating expectations. Results were particularly strong in China, where sales surged 38%.
But AI companies are rapidly purchasing chips, which Apple, the world’s biggest semiconductor buyer, badly needs, meaning suppliers have leverage to raise prices, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apple is expected to eat the cost increases itself, but that, along with increased tariffs, could mean lower profits on the horizon.
