Apple on Wednesday bucked the trend in recession times, with a 9 per cent rise in revenues in its fiscal second quarter ending in March. Profit surged 15 per cent as iPhone sales rose to 3.8 million units, more than double the sales of a year earlier.
It was the the first quarter without Apple co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs in charge. Jobs went on medical leave in January to deal with problems related to a previous problem with pancreatic cancer. He is reported to be closely involved in Apple's strategies from home.
“We look forward to Steve returning to Apple at the end of June,” said Peter Oppenheimer, chief financial officer, on a conference call announcing the company’s earnings.
Apple posted revenue of $8.16 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.21 billion, or $1.33 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.4 per cent, up from 32.9 per cent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 per cent of the quarter’s revenue.
In accordance with the subscription accounting treatment required by GAAP, the company recognises revenue and cost of goods sold for iPhone and Apple TV over their estimated economic lives. Adjusting GAAP sales and product costs to eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the corresponding non-GAAP measures for the quarter are $9.06 billion of “Adjusted Sales” and $1.66 billion of “Adjusted Net Income.”
Apple sold 2.22 million Mac computers during the quarter, representing a three per cent unit decline from the year-ago quarter - - the first sales fall in almost six years. The company sold 11.01 million iPods during the quarter, representing three per cent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 3.79 million representing 123 per cent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
“We are extremely pleased to report the best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history,” said Peter Oppenheimer.“Apple’s financial condition remains very robust, with almost $29 billion in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet. Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2009, we expect revenue in the range of about $7.7 billion to $7.9 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $.95 to $1.00.”
Results detail
