Apple's revenue in Q1 2025 exceeded Wall Street expectations, but the growth engine sputtered
There are also signs of strain in key markets.
Apple just dropped its first earnings report of 2025, and on the surface, it looks like a win. Revenue hit $95.36 billion, up 5.1% from the same quarter last year and slightly ahead of Wall Street’s $94.72 billion estimate.
Net income landed at $29.59 billion, and profits came in at $1.65 per share, also beating forecasts. But peel back the layers, and the mood isn’t quite as celebratory.
Sure, the iPhone and iPad still bring in the big bucks. Product sales were up 2.7%, with iPad revenue jumping 15.2% year-over-year and iPhone sales up 1.9%. Apple’s Services division, which includes iCloud, Apple TV+, and the App Store, brought in $26.65 billion, up 11.6% year-on-year. Tim Cook even called it “double-digit growth.” Still, that number came in just below expectations, and the stock slipped 2% after the results.
The bigger story, though, is that Apple’s growth engine isn’t revving like it used to. Over the last two years, the company’s annualised revenue growth sits at just 2%, well below the 8.4% average it posted over the last five years. Meanwhile, rivals are sprinting ahead—Amazon’s revenue has grown 17%, Google’s 16.6%, and Microsoft’s 14.3% in the same five-year window.
There are also signs of strain in key markets. Sales in Greater China fell 2.3%, a notable drop for what’s historically been a crucial growth engine for the tech giant. But that drop is likely due to the ongoing tariff war between China and the U.S. Europe, too, barely grew, while Japan posted a surprise 16.5% bump, and the Americas were up 8.2%.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
Apple’s banking on its upcoming AI push with “Apple Intelligence” and iOS 18 to help kickstart a new device upgrade cycle. But so far, nothing announced feels like the kind of leap that made iPhones must-haves in the 2010s.
So yes, Apple beat expectations. But in a tech world obsessed with what’s next, the company still feels like it’s playing catch-up. The question isn’t whether it can keep printing money—it’s whether it can start growing like it used to.
