Apple finishes a blockbuster year, with the highest iPhone sales on record
According to financial filings, Apple ended 2025 with a standout performance, posting record revenue that much exceeded forecasts. For fiscal Q1 2026 (which actually ended on December 27, 2025, as Apple’s fiscal year starts 3 months earlier than the corresponding calendar year), the company reported revenue of $143.8 billion, a 16% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
According to filings, profitability rose alongside sales. Net income reached $42.1 billion, the highest in the company’s history.
Tim Cook said the iPhone delivered its strongest quarter ever, setting new records across all geographic regions. Revenue from the iPhone segment totaled $85.27 billion during the three-month holiday period. This represents a significant 23% growth year-on-year.
Those results align with broader market data. Last week, Counterpoint Research reported that Apple claimed seven of the top 10 best-selling smartphones globally in 2025. Samsung devices accounted for the remaining three spots. It marked the fourth year in a row that Apple and Samsung exclusively occupied the year’s top 10 best-selling smartphone rankings.
Not every Apple division saw gains, however. While revenue from the iPad and Services segments increased compared with the same quarter a year earlier, sales in the Mac business and the wearables, home products, and accessories category declined in comparison to the same period in 2024. Cook told CNBC that about half of iPad buyers during the quarter were purchasing one of the company’s tablets for the first time.
Cook also noted that Apple’s installed base has grown to more than 2.5 billion active devices worldwide.
For years, Apple’s device segment has been viewed as a mature business, with growth limited and driven more by price increases than by sales. Services were poised to be the main driver for the company’s growth, but the outstanding sales of the iPhone 17 lineup might have highlighted the importance of devices for the company.
