Cook: Apple ‘Pleased’ With Progress of TV Platform

Apple is pleased about the progress being made with its TV platform, but the company didn’t provide any shipment detail Tuesday when it reported fiscal Q1 results.

On the call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the company has “put in our toe in the water” with respect to creating original content for Apple Music.

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“We are learning from that, and we’ll go from there,” he said, noting that Apple is positioned to participate in “the changes that are going on in the media industry” and the “break down” of the cable bundle.

One way the company is participating in that is with the Apple TV and the apps-friendly version of the product that was launched in the fall of 2015.

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“We’re pleased with how that platform has come along,” Cook said.

Though no Apple TV unit sales were forthcoming, Apple posted $4.02 billion in revenues in its “Other Products” category (not including iPhones, iPads, Macs and services), down from $4.35 billion in the year-ago quarter.

But Apple was strong overall in the quarter, setting record revenues and iPhone sales.

Apple posted fiscal Q1 revenues of $78.04 billion, up 3.3%, and net income of $7.8 billion, or $3.36 per share, beating analyst estimates.

Fueled by the iPhone 7, Apple said it sold 78 million iPhones in the period, ahead of the 77 million expected by analysts. The iPhone 7 was Apple’s most popular model in the quarter, but also saw “strong demand” for the iPhone 7 Plus, Cook said.

Cook also said the company set revenue and unit records for the Apple Watch in Q1, but didn’t offer specific numbers. Apple also set revenue records for Services ($7.17 billion), which includes the company’s App Store, Apple Pay, Apple Music and iCloud businesses, and for the Mac ($7.24 billion) in the period.

However, Apple continued to see sales slow for the iPad on a year-over-year basis. Apple still sold 13 million of them in Q1, down 19% from the year-ago quarter. iPad revenues for Q1 came it at $5.53 billion, off from $7.08 billion, or 22%.

Luca Maestri, Apple’s SVP and CFO put a positive spin on it by pointing to NPD data showing that iPad has 85% of U.S. share for tablets priced above $200.

Cook added that Apple had a 1.6 million unit swing on channel inventory on the iPad in Q1 on a year-versus-year basis. “I’m very bullish on iPad,” he said.

Cook also reiterated Apple’s stance on M&A activity.

RELATED: Cook: Apple ‘Open to Acquisitions of Any Size’

“We are always looking at acquisitions,” he said. “We acquired 15 to 20 companies per year for the last four years. And we look for companies of all sizes…There's not a size that we would not do based on just the size of it. It's more about the strategic value of it.”