Apple 'making great progress' with enterprise push, Cook says

Apple saw its revenue and net profit decrease in Q3

Apple has talked up its enterprise market credentials, including its partnerships with Cisco and SAP, as it reports a Q3 sales slump.

For the three months to 25 June 2016, net profit at Apple fell 27 per cent year on year to $7.8bn (£6bn), on revenue which over the same period fell 15 per cent to $42.4bn.

However Luca Maestri, CFO at Apple, said the results were stronger than expected in its Q3 forecast.

Maestri said: "Customer demand for our products and services was stronger than we had anticipated at the beginning of the quarter."

While the quarterly report did not give specific details on commercial results, Maestri referenced recent partnerships with SAP and Cisco as growth opportunities for the future of the company.

In May, Apple announced a partnership with SAP, with the aim to "reimagine business processes" with iOS apps.

Last month, the first three solutions from Apple's partnership with Cisco partnership were announced. Two of the products are designed to improve the network performance of iOS traffic on Cisco networks. The other product, Cook hopes, will "bring the desk phone to the 21st century by integrating iPhone Wi-Fi calling into Cisco Spark".

On the Q3 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the enterprise is a focus for Apple.

"We're making great progress with our enterprise initiatives and we see strong growth opportunities ahead of us," he said.

International sales accounted for 63 per cent of its overall revenue in Q3, largely thanks to growth in China and India.

Cook (pictured) said that channel inventory was reduced by $3.6bn, "significantly more" than the $2bn the company had expected.

"Our sell-through was markedly greater than our sell-in," he said. "We expect the September quarter sell-through comparison to improve further. We feel good about our channel inventory levels and believe they position us well for the months ahead."

Apple partner Vohkus' commercial director Loay Lawrence said he remains positive about Apple's results despite the sales and profit slump because "they are achieving better than what they forecasted."

"We're making great progress with our enterprise initiatives and we see strong growth opportunities ahead of us"

He added that he believes the Cisco partnership will be good for Apple's standing in the enterprise market.

He said: "[The partnership] is something we are looking forward to. I think it is going to be a good partnership. That relationship will make Apple grow into the enterprise market, complimenting what Cisco do. We are a Cisco partner and that joint relationship will be good for the industry."