Apple enjoyed a good holiday season, posting record quarterly revenues of $78.4bn (£62.4bn) for Q1 2017, slightly up on the Q1 2016 figure of $75.9bn. Net income for the quarter was $17.9bn.

The results follow three successive quarters of declining revenues, and were fuelled by strong demand for the iPhone, with Apple selling 78.3m units during the quarter.

On an earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company had seen “especially strong demand” for iPhone 7 Plus, which was a higher portion of the new product mix than the firm had ever seen with Plus models in the past. In fact, said Cook, demand for iPhone 7 Plus exceeded supply throughout the quarter.

It was also Apple’s best-ever quarter ever for Services, with almost $7.2bn in revenue. App Store customers broke all-time records during the holiday quarter, including $3bn in purchases in December alone, making it the App Stores single best month ever.

The number of Apple Pay users more than tripled over the past year, Cook said, with transaction volume up by more than 500 per cent year-on-year as Apple Pay rolled out in Japan, Russia, New Zealand, and Spain, making a total of 13 countries in which it is now available.
Cook also said it was the best-ever quarter for sales of Apple Watch, both in terms of units and revenues, though once again, no sales figures were released.

Cook also revealed that he is living the smart home dream, telling analysts: “When I say good morning to Siri, my house lights come on and my coffee starts brewing. When I go to the living room to relax in the evening, I use Siri to adjust the lighting and turn on the fireplace. And when I leave the house, a simple tap on my iPhone turns the lights off, adjusts the thermostat down, and locks the doors. When I return to my house in the evening, as I near my home, the house prepares itself for my arrival automatically by using a simple geofence.”