Apple Mac sales in the Asia Pacific region of which Australia is one of the biggest Countries grew 67 percent in the last quarter, while revenue for the region grew by a “whopping” 175 percent according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.During a conference call this morning Cook said that the Asia Pacific was a fast growing market for Apple. He said that MAC sales in the region outperformed the USA and Europe with the company reporting 67 percent for MAC sales Vs 3 percent growth for the notebook category in the Asia Pacific region.
Globally MAC sales grew by 23 percent Vs 3 percent for the notebook category said Cook.
Apple said that they sold 7.46 million iPads in 26 countries between its April 2010 launch and the end of its fiscal year on Sept 25.
However they tipped that sales of MAC notebooks, iPods and iPads could fall in the next quarter due to the current quarter being the holiday season, however Apple executives are tipping increased sales of their iPhone which could lead mean a new iPhone being released shortly.
A main driver of growth for the quarter was the company’s iPhone, which sold 16.2 million units, 86 percent more than a year ago.
In Australia the Apple iPhone is sold by all three carriers, a move which Cook said had not harmed margins, when asked whether a move to a two carrier model in the USA with the introduction of Verizon in February 2011 would Impact the Companies margins on Smartphones and iPad’s.
Cook said that the company had sold 4.1 million Macintosh computers in the latest quarter, from a year earlier. It also sold 19.5 million iPod media players, which was a fall of 7 percent for the quarter.
Sales have slowed for the iPod, although the unit has likely benefited from higher average selling prices, as more customers gravitate toward the iPod touch.
For the quarter ended Dec. 25, Apple reported a profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 a share, compared with $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a share, a year earlier. Revenue surged to $26.74 billion, up from $15.68 billion a year ago. In the latest quarter, 38 percent of the revenue came from the U.S.
In October, the company projected earnings of about $4.80 on revenue of about $23 billion.
Gross margin dropped to 38.5 percent from 40.9 percent, the third straight quarter that metric dropped on year. Some analysts have expressed concern about the company’s margins, saying the iPad isn’t as profitable as other products.
This generated $4.96 billion in sales of the device itself and related products and services, according to the company’s 2010 annual report filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
