Apple delivers 1-2 punch

Dubai - Huge crowds line up for iPhone X; Q4 results set another record

This Apple just refuses to be bitten.
Naysayers pummelled them with punches of scepticism, but it was the tech giant that delivered the knock-out punch - actually, two of them.
Apple started selling its hotly-anticipated iPhone X in the UAE on Friday morning, delighting a good-sized crowd, a number of which started lining up at 12 noon on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, it reported better-than-expected and record fourth-quarter financial numbers, allowing it to briefly breach the $900 billion market capitalisation mark, and putting an unprecedented and mind-boggling $1 trillion cap firmly within its sights.
When Khaleej Times arrived at the scene at the Apple Store in The Dubai Mall before 6am, the number of customers already lined up numbered in the hundreds, gradually growing and filling up areas cordoned off as the 8am start of sales approached.
And with huge crowds also flocking to Apple Stores all over the world, it seems that the iPhone X had, apparently, brought back the frenzy of earlier versions of the device, which had lost steam in recent launches.
The first walk-in customer was Pinkesh Jaswani, who said he came at 2pm on Thursday but was told that the queue would start at 4pm. Amit Gopal, meanwhile, was the first of customers who pre-booked to arrive and claim his new device.
"It's the iPhone X, we must have it," they told Khaleej Times.
Three young Apple fans, Dilip Nair, Mohamed and Nikhil Joseph, were relieved to get their new iPhone X. They said they waited for 12 hours.
On Wednesday afternoon, Khaleej Times spotted five men from Uzbekistan at the Mall of the Emirates Apple Store, who said they started to line up at 12 noon.
And Ibrahim Alchamsi, the man from Al Ain who was first in line for the iPhone 8 last month and who bought 12 units of that device, made good on his word to also come back for the iPhone X - though this time he was relegated in the second area cordoned off for Apple customers.
"I was not available [on Thursday night] to come here and line up," he told Khaleej Times, adding that he bought more iPhone 8 units and planned to buy 10 iPhone X devices.
The bad news for fans, however, is the open secret that stocks of the iPhone X - unlike its previous iterations - are limited. Apple would not comment on this.
However, in a positive sign, Nomura Instinet analysts say that 30 million iPhone X devices will be produced during the present quarter. Furthermore, delivery dates for the device have been listed at 'within 3-4 weeks' on Apple's UAE website, compared to five to six weeks earlier this week.
 
Wall Street beaten soundly
At 1am Dubai time on Friday, Apple released its fourth-quarter results, which was another stellar showing from the bellwether.
As at Friday afternoon, Apple's market cap was at $868.33 billion. It briefly swelled above the $900 billion mark in after-hours trading as it shares leapt 3.3 per cent. It closed on Thursday at $168.11.
"We had good success, I would say, through the different iPhones," Apple CEO Tim Cook said on the conference call with journalists after the results.
"We tried hard to have an iPhone that is as affordable as possible for people that really want an iPhone, but may have a more limited budget."
On a year-on-year basis, Apple's products and services were positive. In its fiscal fourth quarter, higher revenues were posted for iPhones (two per cent), iPads (14 per cent), Macs (25 per cent), Services (34 per cent) and other products (36 per cent), according to a statement sent to Khaleej Times.
The latter two categories have been giving Apple a huge lift in recent periods. Services includes Apple Pay, Apple Music, iTunes, cloud services and others, while other products include the Apple Watch, Apple TV and licenced products, among others.
It must be noted that the iPhone X is not included in these results. And if the crush on Friday for the device was any indication - shooting down any doubts about the apparent initial lukewarm response to the device - Apple may be on track for another monster quarter ahead, especially with the holiday season fast approaching.
"A trillion-dollar market cap may now be in Cook's sights in light of these results and guidance around iPhone X," Daniel Ives, an analyst at GBH Insights, told Reuters.
Apple also said in its statement that it returned $11 billion to investors through its capital return programme. Operating cash flow was at $15.7 billion, according to chief financial officer Luca Maestri.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com

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