Strong Mac sales driven in part by new M1 Macs (iPad sales also rising)

Here are some tidbits from today’s conference call with Apple CEO and Chief Finance Officer Luca Maestri on Apple’s fiscal 2021 first quarter that ended December 26, 2020:

° The Mac category racked up US$8.7 billion in sales during the quarter; that’s up from $7.2 billion in the year-ago quarter and up from the previous $7.4 billion quarterly record set in the first quarter of 2019. According to Maestri, much of the growth was driven by sales of the new M1 Macs (13-inch MacBook Pro, 13-inch MacBook, and Mac mini)

° The iPad‌ also had a good quarter, bringing in $8.4 billion. That’s growth of 41% year-over-year regarding $6 billion in sales in the first fiscal quarter of 2020. ° Apple has more than one billion active iPhones globally. That’s up from 900 million in 2019, and 1.65 billion total active devices. Cook says the company has the largest number of iPhone upgraders ever in the fiscal quarter.

° Apple’s Services category (Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Fitness+, Apple Care, iCloud, and its various app stores) brought in $15.8 billion, up from $12.7 billion in the year-ago quarter. The tech giant has more than 620 million paying subscribers. Cook didn’t elaborate on specifics regarding subscriptions, but did says that Apple Pay is now accepted at 90% of U.S. retail locations.

° Cook said Apple saw the highest volume of FaceTime calls ever on Christmas (but he didn’t give specific numbers.)

° Apple’s Wearables, Home, and Accessories category (AirPods, AirPods Pro,  HomePods, HomePod minis, Apple Watches) saw record revenue in the quarter : $13 billion. That’ up from $10 billion in the first fiscal quarter of 2020.

° Sales of the AirPods Max could continue to face restraints through the first quarter of 2021.