Apple warns of future 'supply constraints' for Mac, iPhone, iPad

Apple sent shockwaves through Wall Street on Thursday, warning of significant supply constraints that could impact its most popular products. The company's shares plummeted by over 7% in after-hours trading, despite reporting a 16% increase in revenue to $109 billion (£81 billion) and a 26% increase in profits to $29 billion. CEO Tim Cook explained that the supply constraints, particularly in chip components and key microprocessors, already affected Mac computers and are expected to worsen for iPhone and iPad products.

Cook emphasized that the core issue was unexpected demand, particularly for iPhone and Mac products, which saw impressive growth of 22% and 25% respectively in the June quarter. The company received a $1.1 billion refund from tariffs, which boosted its gross margin by 2% during the last quarter. Apple plans to reinvest these refunds into domestic manufacturing in the United States, with a $600 billion target over the next four years.

Cook also addressed the impending launch of the AI-powered Siri assistant, stating it's part of an "enormous opportunity" for Apple in the AI sector. Apple's stock performed better than Amazon's during after-hours trading, with Amazon's shares rising by 10% as investors showed less concern over the company's future prospects. Amazon reported a 37% growth in its cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and a 20% increase in overall sales to $200 billion, with profits more than doubling to $63 billion.

Analyst Tracy Woo noted the impressive growth in AWS but expressed concern over Amazon's continued, significant investments in AI, totaling $220 billion for the year.