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Apple on Monday posted a 70% surge in quarterly earnings, eclipsing the
profit reported by IBM. The maker of iPhones, the iPad and Mac computers
reported a profit of $4.31bn in the September quarter, while IBM had earnings in
the same period of $3.59bn, up 12% from a year ago.
Apple's revenue jumped 67% to $20.3bn
from $12.2bn but the company’s shares
fell in after-market trading after
rising 10% in the past week. Gross
margin was 36.9% compared to 41.8% in
the year-ago quarter. International
sales accounted for 57% of the quarter’s
revenue.
The biggest star of Apple's
performance was the sale of 14.1m
iPhones, 91% more than in the year-ago
quarter.
Sales of the iPad failed to meet
expectations.
Apple sold 3.89m Macs during
the quarter, a 27% unit
increase over the year-ago
quarter. The company sold
14.1m iPhones in the
quarter, representing 91%
unit growth over the
year-ago quarter. Apple sold
9.05m iPods during the
quarter, representing an 11%
unit decline from the
year-ago quarter. The
company also sold 4.19m
iPads during the quarter.
“We are blown away to
report over $20bn in revenue
and over $4bn in after-tax
earnings - - both all-time
records for Apple,” said
Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
“iPhone sales of 14.1m were
up 91% year-over-year,
handily beating the 12.1m
phones RIM sold in their
most recent quarter. We
still have a few surprises
left for the remainder of
this calendar year.”
“We’re thrilled with
the performance and strength
of our business, generating
almost $5.7bn in cash flow
from operations during the
quarter,” said Peter
Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.
“Looking ahead to the first
fiscal quarter of 2011, we
expect revenue of about
$23bn and we expect diluted
earnings per share of about
$4.80.”
Jobs said in regard to Google’s
portrayal of its Android smartphone
software system as “open” and
Apple’s as “closed” was a
“smokescreen,” and that the real
difference was that Apple’s combination
of hardware, software and third-party
commerce was integrated and more
effective.
Jobs didn't comment on his company's
profit but said: "I don't usually
participate in Apple's earnings calls…
but I just couldn't help dropping by for
our first $20bn [revenue] quarter."
In the third quarter IBM's revenues
were $24.3bn, up 3% from a year earlier.
"In the
third
quarter we
grew revenue
in our
hardware,
software and
services
businesses,
expanded
margins and
again
increased
earnings per
share at
double
digits,"
said Samuel
J. Palmisano,
IBM
chairman,
president
and chief
executive
officer. "We
achieved
excellent
performance
in our
growth
markets
unit,
reflecting
sustained
investments
through the
downturn and
the
continued
strength of
the
infrastructure
build-out in
these
countries.
"Looking
ahead, we
are uniquely
positioned
in the
enterprise,
investing in
high value
segments
like
business
analytics,
advanced
systems and
smarter
planet
solutions.
As a result,
we are
confident we
can deliver
strong
business
performance
to grow
profit,
return value
to our
shareholders
and to
achieve
full-year
2010 diluted
earnings per
share of at
least
$11.40."
From a
geographic
perspective,
the
Americas’
third-quarter
revenues
were
$10.2bn, an
increase of
3% (2%,
adjusting
for
currency)
from the
2009 period.
Revenues
from
Europe/Middle
East/Africa
were $7.4bn,
down 6% (up
1%,
adjusting
for
currency).
Asia-Pacific
revenues
increased
14% (7%,
adjusting
for
currency) to
$5.9bn. OEM
revenues
were $806
million, up
27% compared
with the
2009 third
quarter.