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

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Announces Launch of U.S. Passport Feature in iPhone's Wallet App

Wednesday November 12, 2025 9:15 am PST by
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport. To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need: An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on An Apple Account ...
Tesla Charging

Tesla Working to Add Apple CarPlay Support to Vehicles

Thursday November 13, 2025 8:31 am PST by
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 2

Wednesday November 12, 2025 3:29 pm PST by
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26.2, which adds a few new features worth knowing about. Measure App Apple's Measure app now features a Liquid Glass design for the level, with two Liquid Glass bubbles instead of white circles. Games App There's now an option to sort games in the Games app Library by size, in addition to Name and Recent. CarPlay The...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...

Top Rated Comments

psxp Avatar
66 months ago
Boosted sales of 20w usb c adapters too.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twocents Avatar
66 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
66 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
66 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
66 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
66 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)