Another big quarter for Cupertino. And Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer let us know how big at the Q1 2013 earnings call last week.
Apple retail revenue was at an “all time high” – $46.4bn – fuelled ‘primarily’ by mammoth iPhone and iPad sales, although it fell short of anlaysts’ expectations.
In fact, Apple Stores were bursting at the seams so much they were forced to expand or relocate 14 stores as they had outgrown their space, said Oppenheimer.
Apple opened 11 new stores, pushing the total count at the close of the quarter to 401.
150 of these were outside the US and 4 of these were in Greater China, as it looks to feed the tech-mad regions insatiable demand for i gear.
It opened two stores in Canberra and Perth in September, Apple’s previous quarter, and will soon open a new store in Canberra, bringing the total number of stores in Australia to 19.
Visitors (or worshipers) crossed the istore threshold 121 million times – an 11 m rise from same time a year ago, or 320,000 per week, hitting a new record.
Retail stores generated $16.3 million on average per store in the 13 week quarter. In total, Apple’s retail operation generated $6.441bn compared to $6.112bn the same quarter a year ago.
Gross margin was 38.6% – up slightly from Apple forecasts – but down from 44.7 per cent a year ago.
This was due to a high mix of iPhone products, weaker dollar and leverage on revenue.
And in the Apple kitty was a grand total of $137.1bn, up $16bn compared to previous quarter.
The above figures are based on an average 396 stores open through the 13 week sales period, with sales per store hitting a massive $1.52 million on average every week, marking a slight rise compared to $1.22m average weekly revenue a year ago.
However, it’s not all roses at Apple. There has been a series of high profile departures at senior management level and stores are coming under pressure from other staff.
Late last year, Apple’s newly appointed Senior VP Retail, John Browett, left the company after months, and just this month Jerry McDougal, Apple’s vice president of Retail, left the company, and will be replaced by Jim Bean, Apple’s former VP of Finance.
Also “there is on-going pressure to improve store operations against a tide of increased visitors, and pressure from some employees for improved pay and benefits,” reports IfoApple site.
But still, it’s safe to say it was a good Christmas at Cupertino.
