GLOBAL TECH WRAP: Apple sells 48m iPhones in record quarter, but investors snarl
Shares tumble 10% in after hours trading. PLUS: A $30m windfall for director Al Gore. UPDATED with charts.
Apple's shares [NAS:AAPL], which have already fallen sharply from their all-time high of $US702.10, fell as much as 9.9% to $US431.73 in after-hours trading following a below-expectations result.
The company sold a 48 million iPhones during its fourth quarter - smashing its previous record of 37 million.
iPad sales also hit a new all time high of 22.9 million.
Quarterly profit hit a record $US13.5 billion.
Revenue was a record $US54 billion, and another $US23 billion was heaped onto Apple's cash mountain - plenty to fund stock compensation to longtime director Al Gore, who exercised an option to pay just $7.47 a share for 59,000 shares - adding around $U30 million to his wealth.
ABOVE: Apple looks more and more like a phone company. iPhone sales grew to account for 56 of total revenue in the December quarter, while Mac sales fell. Via @SpatF. Click to zoom.
So why the backlash from Wall Street?
As every it's an expectations game. Profit, iPhone and iPad sales were slightly below analysts' (sky high) predictions.
There were also a few concerns in the phone print. iPhone average selling price was down 3% to $US642, and the average iPad selling price down 22% to $US467. The rise of the Androids seems to be having some impact on what Apple can charge for its products - even if it's selling many more of them than ever. The cheaper, smaller iPad Mini was introduced during the quarter to take on a challenge from 7-inch Androids.
The lower selling prices meant that although iPad unit sales were up 48% against the year ago quarter, revenue from the tablet was only up 16.6%.
Apple 3-year Nasdaq performance. S&P Capital IQ. Click to zoom.
Another problem area: Mac sales were down 21% to 4.1 million.
The company did not break out desktop vs laptop sales for the first time in more than a decade - leading to speculation that iMac (desktop) sales were weak.
Now seems a good time for CEO Tim Cook to announce an Apple television.
NBR staff
Thu, 24 Jan 2013
Thu, 24 Jan 2013
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GLOBAL TECH WRAP: Apple sells 48m iPhones in record quarter, but investors snarl
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