Why Apple Is Experiencing Another Growth Spurt

Why Apple Is Experiencing Another Growth Spurt
“The bigger companies are both able to collect data and use that data to build into adjacent businesses.”
For Apple, which is far more dependent on hardware sales than other tech leaders, the recent performance is all the more impressive after its dismal 2016, when quarterly revenue fell for the first time in 13 years
and the company’s sales in China dropped through the floor.
In the most recent quarter, which ended July 1, Apple actually sold 2 percent more iPhones than it did during
the same period last year, defying the usual sales slump that occurs before its new phones are introduced.
In a harbinger of the company’s future, digital services — the App Store, iCloud, movie
and music downloads, and the Apple Music streaming service — have become the second most important category for the company, growing 22 percent to $7.3 billion in the quarter.
“The services business is the next great product.”
Mr. Miller, who also owns stock in Alphabet and Amazon, said
that part of what makes these companies so powerful is their strong balance sheets, with seemingly limitless cash and borrowing capacity.
With 1.2 billion iPhones sold and millions of new customers joining the iPhone ecosystem each year, Apple
is in a position to increase its income from services much faster than from accessories like the Watch.