Apple's profit soars 31 % thanks to China

iPad sales in a slump

Apple’s third quarter net profit grew 31 % to 11.1 billion dollars (10 billion euro), while turnover grew 22 % to 51.5 billion dollars (46 billion euro). In that time frame, Apple sold 48 million iPhones, 20 % more than the year before, and this product alone contributed 32.2 billion dollars (29 billion euro) to the third quarter turnover. The iPad however is not in demand any more: its sales numbers dropped for the seventh straight quarter, this time going down 20 % to 9.88 million pieces, while the Apple Watch was sold 3.8 million times.

Apple’s big engine of growth is China: the country represented 12.5 billion dollars’ worth of turnover (11 billion euro), double what it did last year. Apple expects its fourth holiday season-focused quarter to generate 75.5 to 77.5 billion dollars in turnover (68 to 70 billion euro).