Apple has reported a profit of $7.5bn or $8.26 per share during fourth quarter ending September 28, compared to $8.2bn or $8.67 per share it reported last year, recording third consecutive quarterly decline in earnings.
Apple has however reported growth in its revenue to $37.5bn for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2013, compared to $36bn it reported during the same period last year.
During the quarter, the company sold record 33.8 million iPhones compared to 26.9 million units sold during the corresponding period last year.
Apple sold 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, an increase compared to 14 million iPads delivered in the same period previous quarter.
The iPhone maker expects to generate revenue between $55bn and $58bn during the first quarter of 2014.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "We’re pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones."
Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said, "We generated $9.9bn in cash flow from operations and returned an additional $7.8bn in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the September quarter, bringing cumulative payments under our capital return program to $36bn."
Apple’s stock briefly dropped before recovering in later trade, following assurance from Cook that the company will continue exploring capital-return programme. Apple’s shares were trading by more than 13% down for the year.
