Analysts: Apple's holiday quarter was a stellar one despite supply problems

Apple Iphone Ipad Availability Beijing Iphone 13 Pro Close Up
Apple Iphone Ipad Availability Beijing Iphone 13 Pro Close Up (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple will hold its quarterly earnings call on Thursday.
  • Analysts expect Apple to post huge numbers despite the problems it has faced.
  • A strong performance in China will offset supply issues and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic according to analysts.

Apple will announce its quarterly earnings for the holiday period on Thursday and analysts expect strong numbers despite issues caused by supply constraints and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysts believe that strong iPhone 13 sales will have helped prop up Apple's numbers despite, at times, struggling to get products into stores due to supply constraints relating to the global chip shortage. Apple, like other companies, continues to contend with an uncertain business world amid the COVID-19 pandemic and new Omicron variant. A strong performance for the brand as a whole in China won't have hurt Apple's revenue, either. In fact, Apple enjoyed the best iPhone results since 2015 during the fourth quarter of 2021 according to one report.

Despite the problems it's faced, Apple is expected to post impressive holiday numbers according to a Reuters report.

"We expect Apple to reach its highest market share in China since Apple entered the market in 2008," said analyst Nicole Peng of Canalys.Investment firm Wedbush Securities forecasts record iPhone sales of more than 40 million units during the holiday period from Black Friday to Christmas. Morgan Stanley estimates total holiday quarter iPhone shipments at 83 million, representing a 4% increase from the previous year.

Analysts believe Apple will likely post revenue of around $118.7 billion which will represent a 6.48% growth year over year.

You can listen to Apple's Q1 2022 earnings call on Thursday — things should kick off at 2:00 p.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.