Since the release of Apple’s larger-screen iPhone handsets last fall, the company has entered a new era of growth. My forecasting models suggest the company will deliver impressive rates of revenue growth through this fiscal year and through at least FY2016 which commences in late September. While the iPhone currently delivers about 70% of the company’s reported revenue, the resurgent iPhone product line along with the rising popularity of Apple’s Macintosh line of personal computers will boost the rates of growth of constituent accessories and services such as the forthcoming Apple Watch and a new TV service expected this fall.
The fast rates of revenue growth expected through at least FY2016 are due not only to the success of the iPhone, but also Apple’s ongoing geographic expansion. Apple will soon reach one billion product and services customers across the globe with the Macintosh line, the iPad line and the company’s robust eco-system of apps, content and services playing important supporting roles in the company’s fast rates of growth.
Concurrent with the release of December quarter (FQ1 2015) results in January, Apple’s management changed reporting of revenue on a regional basis. Apple eliminated the reporting of revenue of its global franchise of retail stores as a separate regional revenue segment and incorporated the revenue from the stores in the geographic regions in which the stores are located. The company also provided retrospective reports for fiscal years 2012 through 2014.
Apple’s FY2014 Regional Revenue Mix
The graph below illustrates Apple’s revised regional revenue mix for the fiscal year that ended last September.
For the fiscal year, the Americas and Europe regions combined represented 68% of reported revenue. Greater China, Japan and the Rest of Asia Pacific comprised the remaining 32% of the company’s reported revenue total. Apple’s highest concentrations of retail stores are in the US, Canada and Europe. The reporting of retail store revenue in the regions in which the stores are located provides a clearer picture of revenue activity on a geographic basis.
FY2014 Revenue Growth By Region
The graph below illustrates the rate of growth by region in a fiscal year in which aggregate revenue rose at a modest 6.95% rate. Greater China was the fastest growing revenue region while Japan also delivered double-digit revenue growth. The Rest of Asia Pacific region realized a revenue decline in the 12-month period.
