How these factors may bring a ‘supercycle’ for Apple – Times of India

The quarterly results of Apple certainly beat a lot of odds. In a quarter where other biggies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta didn’t show too much promise, Apple’s quarterly revenue rose year-on-year. Apple posted a record revenue of $90.1 billion and analysts at Counterpoint Research believe this could be a start of a ‘supercycle’.
Hanish Bhatia, associate director, Counterpoint Research, believes that “Apple’s strong grip over its user base continues to act as a growth engine, while its ‘walled garden’ approach builds further stickiness and brings in new users across its ecosystem.”

Growth in iPhone and Mac thanks to switchers

Apple revealed that it had registered a record-high installed base number for active devices driven by a record number of upgraders as well as ‘double-digit’ growth of switchers to iPhones. Bhatia says that this is an indicator of continued migration from Android to iOS. The same goes for Mac as The installed base for Mac devices also reached an all-time high, attracting both upgraders as well as first-time Mac users. Apple said that more than half of the Mac purchases came from new users. “This is crucial for Apple as it continues to attract the creator community and expand its footprint to a wider audience,” says Bhatia.

Multiple challenges remain for Apple

The revenue from iPad did decline 13.1% year-on-year but the installed base for iPads also touched a new all-time high, with over half of all iPad purchases coming from new users. Even with the Apple Watch, two-thirds of buyers were first time users for Apple Watch. Currency fluctuations remained a key pain point for Apple and will remain so going into the holiday season, Bhatia added. “The high residual value of Apple devices remains a key selling point for the company to attract new customers,” as per Bhatia.
Even though Bhatia believes that the “current macro headwinds remain a temporary hurdle in the face of a longer-term growth supercycle as the company’s installed base continues to set new records.”
A supercycle is when the demand keeps on increasing even though the ‘normal’ cycles would predict it to fall. Apple has seen a super cycle in the past according to analysts and it was around the time when iPhone 6 was launched. With continued demand and a lot of it coming from first-time buyers or those switching from other devices, Apple’s supercycle is expected to come from multiple categories.