Apple expects to finish the year with a monster quarter — and turn things around in China

• Apple CEO Tim Cook predicted record revenue for the December quarter, driven by the iPhone 17.
• Despite revenue in China declining last quarter, Cook said he expected a rebound to growth in the region.
• iPhone 17 sales in the US and China outsold the iPhone 16 by 14% in the first 10 days, a third-party research firm found.

Apple is predicting a whole lot of iPhones will be beneath Christmas trees this year.

CEO Tim Cook said he expects record iPhone sales — and Apple’s biggest quarter in history by revenue — for the holiday quarter.

“We are incredibly excited about the strength we’re seeing across our products and services, and we expect the December quarter’s revenue to be the best ever for the company and the best ever for iPhone,” Cook said on Apple’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call on Thursday.

The recent launch of the iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air will help drive overall revenue growth that Apple expects to be 10-12% for the December quarter — significantly above what analysts expected going into the earnings call.

While Apple’s China sales have been struggling, with its quarterly revenue in the region declining 4% year over year and coming in below estimates, Cook expects the new iPhone lineup to drive a return to growth in the region.

The Apple CEO spoke about a recent visit to China, where he said store traffic is up and the iPhone 17 family has been “very well received.” Third-party data from Counterpoint Research indicates that the iPhone 17 outsold the iPhone 16 series by 14% during the first 10 days of availability in the US and China.

“We do believe that we’ll return to growth in Q1, and that is largely based on the reception of the iPhone there. And so I couldn’t be more pleased with how things are going there in the early going,” Cook said.

A glowing December quarter would close out an impressive second half of 2025 for the iPhone maker. It’s been on a hot streak, achieving a $4 trillion market cap and gaining favor with President Donald Trump as it navigates his trade policies.

Apple’s revenue for Q4 grew 8% year over year to $102.5 billion, beating estimates. The revenue growth Cook expects in the current quarter will be accompanied by an increase in AI spending, as many tech companies have told investors this earnings season. Apple was largely late to the AI party, and is looking to drum up meaningful demand for Apple Intelligence, which has faced setbacks since its introduction more than a year ago.

The long-awaited “more personalized Siri,” a flashy, AI-based overhaul of the virtual assistant shown off in spring 2024, isn’t coming until 2026, Apple said, though the company said it is making good progress.

Cook said that Apple Intelligence is a factor influencing consumers’ purchasing considerations.

“As we head into the holiday season with our most powerful lineup ever, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come,” Cook said.