Massive jump in Mac sales boosts Apple profits

gallery

Apple has once again surprised analysts and the markets by turning in another massive jump in quarterly earnings and sales, again fuelled by growth in its computer business rather than just sales of its iPod digital media device.

The company shipped 2.164 million Macintosh computers, 34 per cent up on the same quarter last year. The biggest seller was again its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop lines, selling a total of 1.347 million units compared with 817,000 desktop computers.

Of the total Mac sales figure, 499,000 were sold in the UK and Europe.

The Mac sales figure sets a new record, beating its previous best-selling quarter for computers by just over 400,000 units.

The Company sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, 17 per cent up on the same quarter in 2006, while it sold 1,119 million iPhones in the US, bringing the iPhone sales figure to date to 1.389 million handsets. The iPhone goes on sale in the UK on 9 November priced at £269.

The company, which has been keen to diversify and reduce its reliance on sales of iPods and related products, has been steadily investing in its computer division for some time. This has been most visible in the decision to move away from PowerPC processor technology in favour of the x86 platform used by Windows-based computers. That decision has been credited with the turnaround in Mac computer sales, allowing the company to reduce its reliance on the iPod and rebuild its original computer business and user base.

"We are very pleased to have generated over $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income in fiscal 2007," said said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive speaking about the full year figures. "We're looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the [Christmas] season."

"Apple ended the fiscal year with $15.4 billion in cash and no debt," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer.

The vast size of Apple's cash pile has raised expectation that the company may make a significant acquisition, with targets including Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo and even Skype - which has just been victim to a significant write down by current owner eBay - being suggested by analysts.

In a conference call with press and analysts to discuss the results, Apple also revealed some interesting figures relating to the iPhone.

The company that as many as 250,000 iPhones sold to date have been bought with the specific intention of unlocking them for use on networks other than AT&T, with which it has a two-year exclusive contract in the US. The vast majority of these purchases came following September's $200 price cut on the 8GB model, the company added.

Email to a friend

Print this page