Apple today announced its financial results for the third quarter of its 2014 fiscal year (the second quarter of the calendar year). The company reported revenues of $37.43bn, bringing in net profitof $7.7bn.
Here are some of the highlights from today's announcements:
- Sales of iPhones were roughly in line with expectations - 35.2m were sold, just slightly below the anticipated figure of around 36m. Even so, iPhone sales were up 12.8%
- iPad sales were below expectations - 13.3m were sold, although investors and analysts were expecting this figure to be in the 14 to 15 million range. 16.35m iPads were sold last quarter, so this represents a significant drop
- 4.4m Macs were sold - an increase of 18%
- Earnings per share of $1.28 - a little above the predicted figure of $1.23
- Revenues were slightly below expectations of around $38bn
- Gross margin of 39.4% (up from 36.9% in the same quarter last year)
Apple outperformed the market with its Mac sales - that 18% increase is an incredibly strong performance in a broader PC market that is still struggling.
Tablet sales continue to be slightly problematic for Apple, despite the company essentially defining this segment of the market with its seminal iPad. After massive sales which its competitors could only dream of, this is the second consecutive quarter in which iPad sales have dropped. Nonetheless, the company is still selling iPads in large numbers, despite this decline, and with considerably higher margins than other manufacturers can achieve.
The company issued guidance for the next quarter, anticipating revenue of around $37bn to $40bn and gross margin of roughly 37-38%. Next quarter will be a big one for Apple, with major new products expected to launch, including larger iPhones, ahead of the holiday season. Rumours also persist that the company will finally makes it long-awaited entry into the wearables market, but this is not expected to launch until October.
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