FirstFT: Apple’s iPhone sales rebound but total revenue continues decline

Sales of Apple’s iPhone bounced back from supply chain disruptions in the holiday period, rising 2 per cent in the quarter to $51.3bn, ahead of estimates at $48.9bn.

The uptick came as a relief to investors questioning what demand would look like following an outbreak of Covid-19 at the Foxconn factory known as “iPhone City” that had derailed production in November.

Chief executive Tim Cook said Apple had made it through “this parade of horribles . . . between the pandemic and the chip shortages and macroeconomic factors”. He added: “The supply chain has been incredibly resilient and we feel good about what we are and what our plans are.”

But total revenue still fell 2.5 per cent year on year to $94.8bn in the three months to the end of March, the second quarter of decline in a row, due to what the company described as a “tougher” economic environment and currency headwinds.

Here’s what else is happening today and over the weekend:

Thanks for reading FirstFT. If you’re looking for a deeper analysis of the UK polls as we wait for results to come in, I recommend the recent edition of the Inside Politics newsletter by Stephen Bush, who explains the national issues behind the local elections.

Five more top stories

1. US regional banks suffered severe share price declines yesterday amid fresh calls for an intervention from Washington. Activist investor Nelson Peltz told the Financial Times that the deposit insurance limit should be increased. Here’s the latest on the US banking turmoil.

2. A flood of gilt sales is driving up the UK government’s borrowing costs, investors say, as markets are asked to absorb record volumes of bonds without the Bank of England stepping in to hoover up supply. Read the full story.

3. Bill Clinton realised it was “just a matter of time” before Vladimir Putin would invade Ukraine, the former US president said, recalling remarks made by the Russian leader in 2011 on an agreement to respect Ukraine’s territory made under Putin’s predecessor Boris Yeltsin. Here’s what Clinton remembered from his chilling conversation with Putin.

4. Shares of the UK’s largest housebuilders have rallied unexpectedly by more than 20 per cent on average since January, as investors increasingly bet Britain will avoid a big fall in house prices. Read more from the most recent results from developers.

5. Millions of Britons are overpaying on mobile phone contracts because operators are unfairly enforcing higher tariffs on “bundle” package customers, according to new data released today by Virgin Media O2, which called on its competitors to stop “swindling” customers.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

The Big Read

Last year, ByteDance employees through TikTok accessed journalists’ personal information, including their physical locations, as part of an attempt to track down the writers’ sources after a series of damaging stories about the company. One of the victims was FT technology correspondent Cristina Criddle. This is her story.

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Chart of the day

Progressives are winning the immigration debate in western countries, with some theorising that the success of anti-immigration populism shocked previously complacent moderates into vocalising support for diversity, writes chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch.

Hear Hillary Clinton live in conversation with the FT’s US national editor Edward Luce on May 20 at our FTWeekend Festival. Register now and get $20 off as a newsletter subscriber with the promotion code NewslettersxFestival at ft.com/festival-us.

Take a break from the news

Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner reinvented popular British cinema with hits from Four Weddings to Love Actually. The industry has changed remarkably since then. But their MO is much as it was 30 years ago. “Every movie still essentially comes down to this: cover your nuts and jump,” Bevan said.

Additional contributions by Gordon Smith and Emily Goldberg