Apple's revenue grows slightly despite decline of iPhone sales

Apple on Thursday announced a slight revenue growth in the past quarter that ended March 28, although sales of iPhone fell.

"Despite COVID-19's unprecedented global impact, we're proud to report that Apple grew for the quarter, driven by an all-time record in Services and a quarterly record for Wearables," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The company posted quarterly revenue of US$58.3 billion, an increase of 1 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of US$2.55, up 4 percent.

International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter's revenue, while Apple's net sales in China decreased to US$9.46 billion from US$10.22 billion in the same period of fiscal 2019, the company said.

Sales of iPhone amounted to US$28.96 billion, a 6.7-percent decline from the US$31.05 billion in the same quarter last year, it added.

The company's services revenue reached a new all-time high of US$13.3 billion, a 16.6-percent increase year-on-year. Its Wearables, Home, and Accessories unit brought in US$6.28 billion, a 22.4-percent growth compared with last year's US$5.13 billion.

"We also generated operating cash flow of US$13.3 billion during the quarter, up US$2.2 billion over a year ago," said Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri.

Apple's board of directors has declared a cash dividend of US$0.82 per share of the company's common stock, an increase of 6 percent.

The company said it has authorized an increase of US$50 billion to the existing share repurchase program.