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Apple sales up by a third in in its latest year – as it says it is getting closer to carbon neutrality in its supply chain

Apple is expanding renewable energy use in its supply chain. Image courtesy of Apple

Apple today reported sales up by a third and profits up by almost two-thirds in its latest financial year – and says it is closer to its 2030 goal of being carbon neutral across its supply chain. 

Strong sales, it says, came despite “continued uncertainty” in the wider economy. 

Overnight, Apple reported net sales of $83.4bn (£60.5bn) in the three months to September 25 2021, 29% up from $64.7bn (£46.9bn) a year earlier. Net income of $20.5bn (£14.9bn) was 38% up from $12.7bn (£9.2bn) a year earlier. 

In the year to the same date, net sales came in at $365.8bn (£265.4bn), 33% up from $274.5bn (£199.1bn)  in its previous year, with strong iPhone sales (+40% at $191.97bn/£139.26bn) continuing to make this its largest product category. Net income of $94.7bn (£68.7bn) was 65% up from $57.4bn (£41.6bn) last time.  

Luca Maestri, Apple chief financial officer, says: “Our record September quarter results capped off a remarkable fiscal year of strong double-digit growth, during which we set new revenue records in all of our geographic segments and product categories in spite of continued uncertainty in the macro environment. The combination of our record sales performance, unmatched customer loyalty, and strength of our ecosystem drove our active installed base of devices to a new all-time high.

The results came soon after Apple marked the Cop26 climate conference by launching 10 new projects to bring renewable energy to communities around the world, from Sioux tribes in the US to communities in South Africa, the Philippines, and Colombia. The technology company and retailer, ranked Top250 in RXUK Top500 research, says it is already carbon neutral across its own global operations, but it says that by 2030 every Apple device that it sells will have a net-zero climate impact. It says that over the last year it has more than doubled the number of its suppliers that use 100% clean energy, and it aims to have 175 suppliers do that by 2025. So far 19 US, 19 European and 50 Chinese suppliers have joined Apple’s supplier clean energy programme. The retailer is also developing its use of recycled materials, including gold, colbalt, aluminium and rare earth elements. 

“This year we launched our most powerful products ever, from M1-powered Macs to an iPhone 13 lineup that is setting a new standard for performance and empowering our customers to create and connect in new ways,” says Apple chief executive Tim Cook. “We are infusing our values into everything we make — moving closer to our 2030 goal of being carbon neutral up and down our supply chain and across the lifecycle of our products, and ever advancing our mission to build a more equitable future.”

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