Tim Cook: Apple Saw 'Great Improvement' in China in Q3 2019

Thanks to trade-in programs and other promotions, Apple saw significant improvement in iPhone sales in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said today during today's earnings call covering the third fiscal quarter of 2019.

Cook said that Apple saw "great improvement" in China, returning to growth in constant currency in Greater China with improvements in year-over-year iPhone performance compared to the last two quarters.

We're happy with our performance across the board, including a return to growth in mainland China. We accomplished this despite strong headwinds from foreign exchange, which impacted the top-line growth rate by 300 points compared to a year ago, equivalent to $1.5 billion of revenue. In constant currency, our revenue grew in all five of our geographic segments.

Cook went on to say that Apple is "encouraged" by the results of the initiatives it launched earlier this year, with the company seeing a strong customer response to in-store trade-in and financing programs. iPhone in retail and online stores returned to growth on a year-over-year basis in June, said Cook, and the active installed base of iPhone users reached a new all-time high.

Despite the improvements, iPhone revenue was down during the quarter. The iPhone brought in $26 billion, down from $29.5 billion in the third quarter of 2018. For the first time, the iPhone was responsible for less than half of Apple's revenue, with services and wearables making up for the decline in sales.

Cook said that later this year, Apple has "several new products" that it can't wait to share with customers, without going into details. Apple also has multiple services on the horizon, including Apple Card (coming in August), Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+.