Apple recently announced its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2025 (as of the end of 2025). Quarterly revenue reached a record $143.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16%. The iPhone business performed particularly well and became the core engine driving overall performance higher. In earnings calls and media interviews, Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasized that iPhone sales were "amazing" on the one hand, and also responded to market concerns about the rapid rise in memory and storage chip prices in the current supply chain.
According to data disclosed by Apple, iPhone revenue reached a record high of US$85.2 billion in this quarter, an increase of approximately 23% from US$69.1 billion in the same period last year, and the most impressive performance among all product lines. Cook said in Apple's press release announcing its financial results that the iPhone had its "best quarter in history," setting new sales records in all major regional markets. He also called iPhone demand in the last quarter "simply staggering," far exceeding the company's original expectations. Benefiting from the sales boom of new generation products and the concentrated volume brought about by the year-end holiday shopping season, a large number of consumers purchased new iPhones at the end of 2025.
The current iPhone product portfolio includes iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, covering multiple price ranges from popular main models to high-end flagships. Apple has not publicly disclosed the specific sales composition of each model, nor has it stated which model contributed the most revenue. However, judging from the overall revenue and regional performance, the market acceptance of the new generation models is generally high.
At the same time, memory prices in the upper reaches of the supply chain are experiencing a new round of increases, involving key components such as RAM and SSD, causing the market to pay attention to the cost pressure of hardware manufacturers. In his communication with analysts, Cook mentioned that the impact of memory chip price increases on Apple's gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of 2025 is "very limited" and has not yet had a significant impact on profitability in the quarter. However, he also warned that as price increases are further transmitted through the supply chain, it is expected to have a "slightly greater impact" on the company's gross profit margin in the current quarter.
Financial guidance shows that Apple remains relatively optimistic about its overall business this quarter, with revenue expected to continue to grow by about 13%-16% year-on-year, and gross profit margins expected to be between 48%-49%. This means that even in the upward cycle of memory and storage chip prices, the company still expects to maintain profitability levels near historical highs. Cook said Apple will evaluate multiple response strategies from a "long-term perspective," including supply chain optimization, scale procurement and product portfolio management, to absorb upstream cost fluctuations.
Judging from the current public information, Apple, on the one hand, continues to increase revenue at the revenue level based on the strong demand for its iPhone business and consolidates its leading position in the high-end smartphone market; on the other hand, it limits the short-term impact of rising memory prices within a controllable range by locking in production capacity in advance, negotiating prices, and structural adjustments. As global memory chips enter a price increase cycle and terminal demand remains strong, whether Apple can continue to balance cost pressure and profit margin performance in subsequent quarters will become a continued focus of attention in the capital market and industry chain.