Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Optimistic' About iPhone 12 Sales, Early Data 'Quite Good'

Apple's iPhone 12 lineup launched too late to be included in the Q4 earnings results being shared today, but Apple CEO Tim Cook today said in an interview with CNBC that he's "optimistic" about Apple's ‌iPhone‌ 12 sales because of 5G support, carrier promotions, and a loyal install base.

iphone 12 colors lineup
According to Cook, initial data points on ‌iPhone‌ 12 sales are "really quite good." During the earnings call, Cook went on to say that the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup is the strongest lineup that Apple has hard by far. 5G also represents a once in a decade opportunity due to the excitement around 5G technologies. "We're off to a great start," said Cook.

‌iPhone‌ 12 sales will be included in Apple's Q1 2021 earnings results rather than this quarter, but Apple declined to provide guidance for Q1 2021. Cook says that Apple again declined to offer guidance due to the ongoing global health crisis leading to a "sufficient level of uncertainty" that's "not an environment to guide into."

Sales in China were down for the year, and were a weak point for Apple. Sales dropped to $7.95 billion, down from $11.13 billion in fiscal 2019. Cook said he's confident that will turn around next quarter.

A larger percentage of China revenue is made up of new iPhones. And so that's the reason the number for the total quarter started with a minus sign. But given what we see in the early going with the new iPhones, we're confident we'll grow in Q1."

Apple today reported record Q4 2020 results with $12.7 billion profit on $64.7 billion revenue, with services revenue hitting a new all time high.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With a Rough iPhone Fold Mockup

Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Users Report Static Speaker Noise While Charging

Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging. There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday December 23, 2025 8:36 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another nine months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models. The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID Front camera in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Monday December 22, 2025 8:47 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple released iOS 26.2, following more than a month of beta testing. It is a big update, with many new features and changes for iPhones. iOS 26.2 adds a Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. Below, we have highlighted a total of eight new features. Liquid Glass Slider on Lock Screen A new slider in the Lock...
macbook air march 2020

Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September. The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...

Top Rated Comments

psxp Avatar
68 months ago
Boosted sales of 20w usb c adapters too.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twocents Avatar
68 months ago
Wait till full 12 lineup is available. Mini and Max will hands down win over respective target audiences. great stuff
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BuddyTronic Avatar
68 months ago

What happened to the unequivocal "super cycle" that analysts were forecasting? This seems like a rather lukewarm public statement from Tim.
Apple hasn't really been big on the "super cycle" talk - that's all. iPhone 6 was a real super cycle year though and the super cycle this year is real too. Late iPhone launch makes it tough to compare quarters year over year though. Apple did mention that they are 4 weeks delayed (iPhone 12 and 12 pro) and 7 weeks delayed (for iPhone 12 pro max and mini). Nevertheless, the next quarter is the big one. China is going to be buying up a lot of iPhone 12 Pro Max units. The iPhone line up has something for everybody.

The fiscal Q4 Apple just reported ended Sept 30th - that's BEFORE the new iPhone's were being sold. So there is no sales data of new model 12 iPhones in today's quarterly report - perhaps you did not realize that. So the talk of "Super Cycle" is coming in the Christmas quarter (Apple fiscal Q1). And even that quarter will present difficulties for year over year comparison, because of the delay. Get it?

Every year people make remarks that doubt they can sell iPhones, but every year has been a record revenue breaker. The iPhone super cycle this time will become apparent in several months time like the end of April!. You'll know it's happening though.

Quarterly YOY comparisons are becoming difficult. It used to be that one quarter had 2 more days in it than the other and that was enough to make a billion dollar difference in YOY (Year over year) comparisons. Now with the covid delay on the new iPhone's, it's going to take some thought to consider the truth. Analysts probably won't take that into account properly - when do the analysts ever get it right?

Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baymowe335 Avatar
68 months ago
iPhone 12 is and will sell like hot cakes.

Don’t be fooled by quarter over quarter compares that have product release timing differences. iPhone 12 wasn’t baked in at all in this quarter’s results.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
68 months ago

It's better to be humble and give a positive surprise than the other way around.
Better to overdeliver and undersell than the other way around, what you are suggesting.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BuddyTronic Avatar
68 months ago

Tim knows better than use superlatives with only 2 weeks of data.
He might give a "nod" to the supercycle in April earnings call - but he shy's away from the SuperCycle talk. I say this because I've listened to every earnings call for years.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)