Apple and Google reported higher profits on Tuesday. But the good financial news was overshadowed by the Delta mutation of COVID-19, which is spreading around the world, threatening to prolong the effects of the pandemic.
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“As the past 18 months have shown, the progress that has been made is not guaranteed. The recovery from the pandemic is not steady, and the delta variation in many countries around the world has shown us once again that the road to recovery will be winding,” Apple CEO Tim Cook in a conference call on Tuesday.
In many ways, the pandemic has benefited big tech companies, as people confined to their homes have accelerated demand for digital services and consumer electronics to help them stay connected, busy, and entertained during lockdown.
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While the pandemic had little impact on Apple’s sales last year and a drop in advertising revenue hurt Google’s revenue, the quarter was “huge” for both companies. Apple earned $81 billion in the quarter, more than any fiscal second quarter in the company’s history, thanks to increased iPhone and services sales, which include Apple’s streaming service and cloud storage. Google earned $62 billion, up 62% from the same quarter a year earlier.
However, company executives warned that things are not set in stone. “We believe it is still too early to predict the long-term trend as markets reopen, especially given the recent increase in COVID-19 cases globally,” Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in a conference call on Tuesday.
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Apple told analysts it could not provide revenue guidance due to "continued uncertainty around the world," as Apple CEO Luca Maestri put it.
Information source: msn.com
