Apple's UK sales surge to a record £1.5 billion a year ahead of iPhone 15 reveal

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple's UK-based sales have reached a new record after bouncing back from a COVID-inspired downturn.

Sales at Apple's online and brick-and-mortar stores across the U.K. reportedly reached a new record of £1.5 billion in the 12 months that ended in September 2022.

The news means that Apple's UK business bounced back from just £971 million in sales in 2021 after previously reaching £1.4 billion in 2019, before COVID-19 hit.

Big business

The Telegraph reports that Apple was one of a number of companies that benefited from consumer spending increasing following the end of COVID lockdowns while low interest rates also made it easier for people to borrow money. It's thought that money saved during the lockdowns was also used to buy Apple products en masse.

"The addition of 5G connectivity across Apple’s iPhone range in 2020 also helped to spur sales," the report notes. "The iPhone has been the leading device driving sales of 5G phones, according to analysts."

It's also thought that the strong performance of the Pro versions of its iPhones might have helped Apple's figures, but these numbers don't include the iPhone 14 launch. That means that sales of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max haven't been taken into account. Apple will no doubt also be hoping that the trend of people choosing the best iPhone will continue into the iPhone 15 lineup later this year.

Apple's U.K. position has been further strengthened by the opening of a new Brompton Road store in London, while others are thought to be in line for a refresh in the next few years, ready to include testing space for Apple Vision Pro.

Apple's 2023 is set to give it plenty of chances to make lots more money, too. The iPhone 15 lineup is set to be joined by updated iPads as well as multiple refreshed Apple Watch models towards the end of this year, while new Macs (including M2 Mac Mini, 15-inch MacBook Air, and M2 Ultra Mac Studio models) have all also hit stores to tempt customers from their hard-earned cash.

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.