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Silicon Valley had a rough year in 2022, with big tech companies’ stocks plummeting to record lows. Apple, too, was not spared, as its stock crashed more than 20% this year.
Despite being battered at the stock market, the Cupertino-based firm had an interesting year in 2022 as it looks to diversify its revenue streams beyond iPhones. Apple further transitioned towards a retail bank with more products added to its payments ecosystem. According to reports, Apple also generated nearly USD 5 billion in ad revenue this year.
The tech giant is betting on user privacy and using it as a selling point to one up Android. Earlier this year, Apple rolled out a long advert showcasing iPhone’s superiority over competitors, like the Android OS, when it comes to privacy.
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Besides the launch of the iPhone 14 and Ian Goodfellow quitting over a disagreement with Apple’s work-from-home policy, the much anticipated Apple Car did not arrive in 2022 either. Instead, the same is now scheduled to release in 2025 and will not be fully autonomous.
Building a payments ecosystem
Apple wants to bolster its presence in the payments space and announced the launch of Apple Pay Later this year. However, the latest reports suggest that the launch will only take place in 2023.
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In October, Apple teamed up with Goldman Sachs to launch no-fee, high-yield savings accounts for its Apple Card customers. The company continued to expand its payments ecosystem this year, and with products such as saving accounts, many questioned if Apple is transitioning to a retail bank?
Besides, the tech giant has started working on a technology which would reduce its reliance on outside partners like Goldman Sachs to power its financial products.
Revenues
Apple did fairly well on iPhone sales despite the smartphone market being in turmoil this year. It must also be noted that Apple manufactures a majority of its iPhones in China, a country which continues to be plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, iPhone generated more than USD 200 billion for Apple, contributing to over 52% of the company’s revenues. The overall revenues for the company stood at USD 394.3 billion. “We set records for iPhone, Mac, wearables, home and accessories and services while growing double-digits in emerging markets and setting records in the vast majority of markets we track,” said Tim Cook, CEO, Apple.
However, revenues from the sale of iPads were down. Apple reported revenues of around USD 7.2 billion in the segment, down 13% year-over-year.
Apple silicon
In March, Apple announced its M1 Ultra silicon chips, which the tech giant labeled as the ‘most powerful chip for a personal computer’. “M1 Ultra is another game-changer for Apple silicon that once again will shock the PC industry,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.
In June, Apple announced the M2 chip, which features an 8-core CPU, a 16-core GPU, and a 32-core neural engine. The M2 chip is the successor of Apple’s breakthrough M1-Ultra chip. M2 incorporates the enhanced second-generation 5-nanometer technology. Designed with over 20 billion transistors, the M2 chip has 25% more compute power than M1.
What to expect in 2023?
We saw massive layoffs across the tech ecosystem in 2022; however, not at Apple Inc. But the tech giant is expected to slow down hiring and reduce spending across certain divisions in 2023. Apple’s indulgence in augmented reality is not new. Over the years, the company has spent millions on product development and acquisition. Finally, this year, we can expect the launch of their much-anticipated AR/VR glasses. While not much is known about the product, it could be a mixed reality device one can wear anywhere.
In 2023, Apple could double its income from ads and disrupt the space largely dominated by Meta and Facebook. With the launch of iOS16, Apple is already eating away Meta’s ad revenues. Further, we could also see Apple launch the M3 chips series by the end of 2023 or early 2024, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
