4 Key Takeaways From Apple’s Earnings Call

After Apple’s (AAPL) fiscal first quarter of 2024 earnings beat analysts’ estimates, ending a four-quarter-long revenue decline, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook discussed artificial intelligence (AI), the upcoming Vision Pro launch, new regulations in the European Union, and sales in emerging markets as China declines on the iPhone maker’s earnings call.

Apple Working on GenAI, Not Ready to Talk About It

When asked about the company’s AI projects, Cook said that the iPhone maker has “some things that we’re incredibly excited about, that we’ll be talking about later this year.”

The CEO noted that the company has “a lot of work going on internally,” but that Apple is not announcing details yet so as to not “get out in front” of itself.

Unlike other tech giants, like Microsoft (MSFT) and other “Magnificent 7” companies, Apple has kept the details of its AI initiatives quiet. On the call, Cook did note that he thinks “there’s a huge opportunity for Apple with GenAI and AI.”

Earlier this year, Bank of America analysts upgraded their Apple price target saying that the company could gain as AI capabilities are integrated into iPhones.

Big Name Enterprise Customers Integrating Vision Pro

Cook highlighted “the enterprise opportunities with Vision Pro” naming Walmart (WMT) and software company SAP (SAP) as enterprise customers integrating the tech into their workflow.

The spatial computer headset is set to launch on Friday. The CEO said the launch will be “a historic day as we enter the era of spatial computing” as the “Apple Vision Pro the most advanced personal electronics device ever will be available in Apple stores.”

Cook noted that the Vision Pro has “significant AI and machine learning” tech built in as “all of the hand tracking the room mapping” is “driven by AI.”

Regs Harm iPhone Security, Reliability, Usability in EU

Cook touched on recent changes Apple made to the App Store, Safari, and iOS as well as with Apple Pay to comply with a new law taking effect in March, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) affecting iPhones in the European Union (EU).

The CEO said that Apple is “really major on privacy, security and usability,” and that the company is “going to fall short of providing the maximum amount that we could supply because we need to comply with the regulation.”

Apple’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Luca Maestri noted that the changes will only affect users in the EU market, which represents “roughly 7% of our global App Store revenue.”

Amid Declines in China, Apple Remains Optimistic

Cook said that “emerging markets have been a very key area of strength” for Apple in the fourth quarter, citing “strong double-digit growth in many emerging markets, with all-time records in Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, and Turkey as well as December quarter records in India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia in Chile.

Apple’s sales strength across emerging markets come as sales in China decline. When asked about the drop, Cook noted that Apple was the leading smartphone seller in China in 2023 and iPhones snagged four out of the top six spots as the best-selling smartphones in urban China.

Cook added that the company has “been in China for 30 years” and that he “remain[s] very optimistic about China in the long term.”

Some analysts have indicated that investor concerns sounding declining iPhone sales in China are overblown as sales in other regions could offset losses in China.