Apple today announced its first quarter financial results for 2005. In the quarter leading up to the festive period, the company saw net profits of $295m for the quarter, representing an increase of ~350% on the same period a year ago. Apple saw $3.49bn of revenue, a 74% increase on the previous period. International sales outside the USA accounted for 41% of the company's income.
Apple shipped just over a million Macs during the period and sold 4.5m iPods, representing a 525% increase. In 2004, total Tablet PC units shipped was .4m, and in Q1 on 2004, 55m PC's were shipped. One of Apple's main iPod rivals, Creative, announced today that in the same time period it had sold 2m Mp3 players.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that he was "thrilled to report the highest quarterly revenue and net income in Apple's history. We've sold over 10 million iPods to date and are kicking off the new year with a slate of innovative new products including iPod shuffle, Mac mini and iLife '05."
Apple noted that not making so many of the components in it's products left it vulnerable to supply issues; the company specifically pointed to the G5 chip and potential under-supply in that area, but press coverage before Christmas also pointed to supply problems with the iPod. In 2005, Apple hope to capitalize on consumer interest in it's iPods and turn it into a wider interest in Apple products. Plans involve offering cheaper / more accessible Mac computers like the Mac Mini. How successful this concept will be in bringing over Windows users is un-known; analysts speculate that devices like the Mac Mini will not substitute a Windows PC, rather compliment it.
View: Apple | Job's Keynote Coverage
View: Neowin Discussion
