Apple announces quarterly earnings

In Apple HQ, the phrase “credit crunch” is seldom heard. Why? Because again, Apple has had its best non-holiday quarter to date. Despite fewer iPods leaving the shelves, sales in Macintosh computers and iPhones were the highest yet for the Spring quarter, which saw revenue of $8.34 billion and a net profit for the quarter of $1.23 billion.

Apple managed to ship 1.754 million laptop computers (13% increase from last year), compared to 849,000 desktops (down 10% from last year), emphasizing that people are looking for a portable computer solution, rather than needing separate computers for home and travel.

Apple as a computing brand name must also be on the rise, as half of Macintosh computers sold in Apple stores were sold to consumers who had never previously owned a Mac. It also seems as though everyone is close to owning an iPod, since there was a 7% drop in sales from this time last year. Nothing really to worry about; over 10 million iPods were sold, and Apple still holds over 70% of the market share. As with the Mac computers, around half of iPod sales (excluding the iPod touch) were to first-time buyers.

The iPhone brought in revenue of $1.689 billion, a 37% increase from the previous quarter and—wait for it—an impressive 626% increase from this time last year. With the iPhone being on sale in 81 countries around the world, Apple is having issues with meeting the high demand, but says they are “… working to address this.”

Apple’s retail stores have also seen a boost. Around 254 retail stores were open during the quarter, taking an average revenue per store of $5.9 million. Over 38 million people visited an Apple store, a 22% increase from the previous quarter.

It was a very impressive spring quarter for Apple in all areas, with iPhone and laptop sales being incredibly strong. Apple has predicted revenue figures for the fourth quarter to be around $8.7 and $8.9 billion, a $0.56 billion increase from this quarter. As technology moves forward, it is clear that Apple intends to be leading.