Apple has reported yet another quarter of recording earnings on the back of 14.1 million iPhone sales - a 91% year-on-year increase that topped the most optimistic forecasts.Apple chief executive Steve Jobs noted that was more than the 12.1 million BlackB
Apple has reported yet another quarter of recording earnings on the back of 14.1 million iPhone sales - a 91% year-on-year increase that topped the most optimistic forecasts.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs noted that was more than the 12.1 million BlackBerries sold during RIM's most recent quarter.
Mr Jobs quoted a figure of 10 million Google Android phones sold, but said it was difficult to access given handset makers do not yet break out figures. His presentation included a lengthy attack on Google's mobile initiative (listen to it here).
The Apple boss said his company had activated an average 275,000 iOS (iPhone and iPad 3G) devices, on average, over the past 30 days, with a high of 300,000. Google has claimed 200,000 Android handsets being activated a day, a figure that Mr Jobs has challenged.
iMac sales were up 27% to 3.9 million.
iPod sales were down 11% to 9 million - but that was deemed acceptable give the numbers upgrading to the more expensive iPhone.
And net profit for the quarter (to September 25) was a record $US4.3 billion, against $US2.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts had been expecting $US3.8 million net profit.
Sales rose to $US20.3 billion from $US12.2 billion during the year-ago quarter.
But in the expectations game, the company missed tis mark.
Mr Jobs reported that 4.2 million iPads had been sold - an amazing number to armchair critics, but below many analysts' interstellar predictions.
Hard to-please-analysts also noted that Apple reported gross margins of 36.9%, down on the forecast 38.15%.
And although Apple said it expected even higher earnings next quarter, again, it's prediction was not bullish enough to meet voracious investors' hopes (they should note: the company does have a track record of under-promising and over-delivering).
The negative take on events drowned out the positive, with Apple (NAS: AAPL) shares falling as much as 7% in after hours trading before recovering slightly.
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The New York Times: Reports Strong Profit and Sales Growth
Business Insider: Steve Jobs' Epic anti-Google rant
