Apple earns profits of USD 20,000 million although it sells less iPhone at Christmas

Apple posted "record" results for the fourth quarter of 2017 on Thursday, earning $ 20.1 billion, although iPhone's total sales declined a bit. The apple brand also indicated that sales of iPhone X "exceeded their expectations", seeking to kill the rumors that the new model of its flagship cell phone seduces the public.

"We are happy to announce the best quarter in Apple's history," director Tom Cook was quoted as saying in a statement.

The iPhone X was "our best-selling iPhone every week since its launch in November," he added. The company did not give sales figures for this model.

In the quarter, which corresponds to the end of the year, Apple's business figures rose 13% to 88,300 million dollars, and its net profits more than 10% to 20,100 million dollars, according to the group.

Apple sold 77.3 million of the iPhone, slightly less than at the end of 2016 (-1%). But with the highest sales prices, the iPhone turnover grew 13%, representing 61,600 million dollars.

As for forecasts, the group expects profits of between 60,000 and 62,000 million dollars in the first quarter of this year, below the forecast by analysts who forecast 65,700 million dollars.

The stock market moved little (+ 0.05% to 167.86 dollars) in the electronic exchanges after the closing, towards 22H00 GMT.

On the other hand, Apple defends itself in a controversy in which he is accused of deliberately slowing down several iPhone models with old batteries. AFP