Apple chief financial officer Kevan Parekh told the Financial Times that the iPhone 17 lineup is now the most popular in the company's history, as the family of devices drove the Cupertino firm to record quarterly revenue despite supply chain constraints on key components.
The announcement came as Apple posted fiscal second-quarter revenue of $111.2 billion, up 17 percent year over year, with iPhone revenue reaching $57 billion, a 22 percent increase and a new March quarter record. Chief executive Tim Cook attributed the performance to what he called "extraordinary demand" for the iPhone 17 family, which launched in late September 2025.
The results mark a significant milestone for Apple as it navigates rising component costs and chip shortages across the consumer electronics industry. The tension between surging consumer demand and limited supply has created a bottleneck that executives acknowledged is unlikely to ease before the next product cycle.
What the sales data shows
Counterpoint Research's Global Handset Model Sales Tracker, published in early May, ranked the base iPhone 17 as the world's best-selling smartphone during the first calendar quarter of 2026, capturing 6 percent of global unit sales. The iPhone 17 Pro Max placed second and the iPhone 17 Pro third, giving Apple the top three positions worldwide.
The research firm noted that the top 10 smartphones accounted for 25 percent of all global sales in Q1, the highest concentration ever recorded for a first quarter. Harshit Rastogi, senior analyst at Counterpoint, attributed the iPhone 17's success to higher base storage of 256GB, improved camera systems, and faster 120Hz displays that brought the standard model closer to Pro-tier specifications.
"The iPhone 17 family is now the most popular line-up in our history... we believe we gained market share during the quarter," Parekh told the Financial Times on April 30. Cook separately told Reuters that iPhone demand was "off the charts," but warned that supply remained constrained.
Supply constraints bite
Cook said there is "just a little less flexibility in the supply chain at the moment for getting more parts." The constraints center on the A19 and A19 Pro chips manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which is also producing processors for AI systems, creating competition for fabrication capacity.
Parekh noted that memory costs had an "increasing impact" between the first and second quarters of 2026, as surging demand from AI data centers has tightened supply of RAM components across the electronics industry. The constraints have affected not only current iPhone 17 availability but also raised questions about production capacity for the upcoming iPhone 18 lineup expected in September.
The current iPhone 17 family includes five models: the standard iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, the budget-tier iPhone 17e, and the iPhone Air, which Apple markets as its thinnest handset to date.
China rebound drives growth
Revenue from Greater China reached $20.5 billion during the quarter, up 28 percent year over year, continuing a rebound in what had been a challenging market for the company. The growth in China contributed significantly to the iPhone's overall revenue surge, though Apple did not disclose specific unit sales figures for the region.
The company's installed base of active devices surpassed 2.5 billion, reaching a new all-time high across all major product categories and geographic segments, according to Parekh. Services revenue also hit a new all-time high, though Apple did not specify the exact figure.
Apple's board authorized an additional $100 billion share buyback program and raised the quarterly dividend by 4 percent to $0.27 per share. The company forecast revenue growth of 14 to 17 percent for the current quarter, suggesting continued momentum despite the supply headwinds.
"Continued strong customer demand for our products and services once again helped us achieve a new all-time high for our installed base," Parekh said in the official earnings release. The company generated over $28 billion in operating cash flow during the March quarter.