Since 2018, Apple’s transparency has been questioned since it won’t include the iPhone sales unit in its financial report1. Investingdeck offers you a bigger picture of this issue through our Apple revenue analysis. This article also covers the hottest Apple breakthrough, MacBook pro-2021.
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In This Issue
MacBook Role in Apple Revenue Analysis
The spotlight of the Apple Event in October 2021 is MacBook and its latest generation SoC (System on Chip). Its processor beat intel i7 11th generation and its GPU is equal with the Nvidia RTX 30xx series. But we need to wait for more reviewers before making too much judgment about the technical experience.
From a technical point of view, Apple MacBook Pro is a breakthrough – efficiency, design, performance. Even the most expensive Windows laptop will be difficult to compete with Apple’s. Imagine that you can design 3D works – C4D, Octane Redshift, Unity – in some quiet place unplugged, MacBook Pro is a professional’s dream.
Apart from all the hype, as an investor, The question is how it affects Apple revenue as a whole, given the contribution of the MacBook is minimal. And with 2,000 more price tag, it is not everyone laptop. That means the market target is specific.
Financially, the last 3 years’ number is far from bad. Mac segment grows from 23 B in 2018 to 28 B in 2020.
Actually, for us, the M series processor is more about Intel than Apple. The new MacBook exploits 5 nm technology whereas Intel keeps struggling with its old school 10-nm.
- Mac is not everyone’s device, even for professionals, engineers, and designers, compatibility is still an issue. Not every engineering and designer software can be run in macOS.
- Mac’s contribution is minimal to Apple revenue, especially when compared to iPhone.
- Even when MacBook demand suddenly surges, Apple will face economies of scale problem since the Cupertino side doesn’t manufacturer its own SOC.
The Hidden Gems: Wearable and Services Role in Apple Revenue Analysis
Both wearable and services segments enjoy the switching cost advantages created by Apple ecosystem.
Wearable
A little surprising that this segment is the fastest-growing line, as shown in the table below.
| Segment | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| iPhone | 164.888 | 142.381 | 137.782 |
| Mac | 25.198 | 25.740 | 28.623 |
| iPad | 18.380 | 21.280 | 23.724 |
| Wearable, Home, Accessories | 17.381 | 24.482 | 30.620 |
| Services | 39.748 | 46.291 | 53.768 |
We believe that this trend is driven by Apple’s exclusivity. That means Apple devices like iPhone or iPad are only compatible with other Apple products for headsets and smartwatches. And with the wearable trend to track health status, this advantage just gets stronger.
Services
It is difficult to say that all Apple services have advantages over peers in the respective markets. For instance, we prefer to use Spotify instead of Apple Music. Services is one of Apple’s growth engines, but it is difficult to know where is its true power, so it will be another guessing game.
We notice that one of the most useful Apple services is its iCloud that could expand your cloud storage. iCloud become one and only cloud service that offer great benefit for users in the term of online storage.
Some exclusive games like Ocean horn and Sky: Children of Light could be another driver for the growth. But once again, it is far inferior to a solid game like PUBG mobile or Mobile Legend. Same with Apple TV that could be easily outranked by streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, or HBO.
iPad
Together with Galaxy Tab S series, the Apple iPad has no considerable competitor. These circumstances get more apparent today due to the Tablet’s capability to replace laptops, Samsung Dex, and Apple Magic keyboards. Huawei offers a similar feature and no GMS is no problem for tablets actually, we just need to see how this is going. Another threat comes from a laptop that can replace the tablet-like Surface series especially Surface Studio with Windows OS that offers more compatibility.
iPhone Role in Apple Revenue Analysis
This is where it all started. Almost every sale of other Apple devices and services is driven by the use of the iPhone. iPhone is the heart of Apple’s business. Everything about Apple is iPhone – and the financial report says amen for that. iPhone contributes more than 50% of Apple’s revenue.
One the big issue is Apple no longer provides information about iPhone sales in unit2. The bear group says that Apple wants to hide its falling number of the unit shipment. Well, that is true. Apple sales in units are decreasing, but, who doesn’t? With the smartphone market getting saturated and new cheap models coming, it will be a bloodbath for any player in this industry.
Our concern is the iPhone market share, which we see as relatively stable. This chart is more meaningful if we connect that Apple keeps raising its iPhone price. Even with the declining trend of the overall smartphone industry, Apple could maintain its market share with increasing prices.
If we take a look at the premium market, the Apple brand looks very strong and stable. This is the place where Apple plays, and it plays a very difficult ball. If we look specifically at this segmented market, we will know that Apple is unmatched.
Final Thought on Apple Revenue Analysis
As we have said early in the previous section, the smartphone industry is overheated. Apple’s market share is protected by Apple’s capability in mastering both software and hardware. The reader can back to our previous sections to get more insight about competitors and Apple’s position. But as a whole, the old neighbor, Google will be the real contender. With Tensor in its latest Pixel phone, Google tries to replicate skills that Apple possesses: hardware – Software bender.