Apple has smashed Wall Street’s expectations with the US company reporting record sales of iPhones and Mac computers. Profits surged 95 percent to $6 Billion while revenue climbed 85 percent, the only disappointment was news that iPod sales have faltered 17 percent. Sales in the Asia Pacific market were up 76 percent.In the last quarter Apple sold 18.65 million iPhones, two million more than expected however the company is claiming that shortages of components could hinder the company in the next quarter.
Apple also sold 4.69 million iPads which was down on what was forecast, despite this they still hold 80 percent share of the tablet market. Analysts are predicting that this may be the peak for Apple as Motorola, Samsung and other manufacturers, launch new Android based tablets.
“Dynamite numbers across the board. The only hiccup is lower than expected iPad numbers,” said Capital Advisors Growth Fund portfolio manager Channing Smith.
“We can attribute some of the weakness to stock issues at some of the retail outlets and obviously the supply chain issue in Japan. Unfortunately, the supply chain issue will likely persist for the coming months but once we get past summer and the supply chain issues are resolved it’s all systems go again for Apple.” he said.
A big contributor to Apple’s 95 percent lift in profits was the launch of a new MacBook Pro in February and the debut of its iPad 2 tablet in early March. The iPad, a multimedia, Internet-enabled slate computer, sold 4.7 million units in the latest quarter.
Apple said that they sold 3.8 million Macintosh computers, up 28 percent from a year earlier. It also sold nine million iPod media players, falling 17%. Sales have slowed for the iPod, although the unit has likely benefited from higher average selling prices, as more consumers gravitate toward the iPod touch.
Apple’s iPad sales in the quarter fell well short of Wall Street’s expectations: some analysts had projected shipments of closer to or even more than 6 million for the tablet computer launched on March 11.
Apple’s results come as it prepares to build the next iPhone model with a faster processor, which will begin shipping in September, three people with direct knowledge of the company’s supply chain said on Wednesday.
Apple said that they may take a revenue hit of about $200 million as a result of last month’s Japanese earthquake, says COO Tim Cook. Speaking during the company’s Q2 results call, Cook said the company has a long history with Japan, and has been taking some actions to help in relief efforts. Suppliers have been affected as well, but the executive explains that Apple been “working around the clock” to institute contingency plans, and that there was no impact on Q2 and there should only be a small impact on Q3.
Cook notes that Apple receives hundreds of supplies from Japan, including resins, foils, LCDs and flash memory. In that regard the company plans to remain with long-term partners, despite many of them having difficulties operating as a result of damage or power brownouts. Connectors for the iPad 2, for instance, are temporarily being made by Taiwan’s Cvilux.