Apple has spent the best past of two years outdoing financial analysts projections, but in Q3 2012, the home of the iPhone was humbled – slightly.
The company has posted quarterly revenue of $35bn and a net profit of $8.8bn for the quarter ending June 30, 2012. This is a dip from last quarter’s $39.2bn in revenue and profit of $11.6bn. However, this remains an 18% jump in revenue from this time last year, and a 17% jump in profit.
Analysts were projecting profits in the region of $10bn, even after accounting for an Osborne Effect; that is, customers putting off purchases of current generation iPhones ahead of the iPhone 5s launch in September/October.
Apple sold 26 million iPhones total, a significant drop from last quarter’s 35 million, and the iPhone 4S’s launch quarter, which saw 37 million devices sold. This is still a significant increase on this time last year, when 20 million were sold.
Much like previous incarnations of the device, every second release is a generational change in technology. The iPhone 3G was followed by an iPhone 3GS, while the iPhone 4 was a step change. The iPhone 4S proved to be a minor upgrade of the 4.
The rumour mill suggests the iPhone 5 will feature a larger screen, 4G, NFC compatibility, and perhaps a completely new body design. It will also include a significant upgrade of Apple’s iOS to version 6, which includes several upgrades.
The company has also seen some tough competition emerge in the high end of the smartphone market, as Samsung’s Galaxy SIII receives rave reviews (including by CBR). It has already sold 10 million units since its May 30 launch, and is by far the best selling Android handset.
The dip in iPhone sales, the company’s staple, was tempered somewhat by the boost in sales of iPads – 17 million. The company launched the iPad 3 in March with a new high res screen, and this is its first full quarter of sales. The iPad 2 has been positioned as a ‘budget’ device.
Apple sold 11.8 million iPads last quarter and 9.25 million this time a year ago.
The iPad 2 has been well repositioned as a ‘budget’ device
"We’re thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter," said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
"We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline."
It also sold 4.0 million Macs during the quarter, a 2% increase over the year-ago quarter, and 6.8 million iPods, a 10% decline.
CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects the company to be back on track in the next quarter, and projects revenues of $34bn for the fourth quarter. Long standing rumours suggest the company may be looking at releasing a new mini-iPad to compete with Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, and perhaps an Apple TV later in the year.
The company’s share price dropped below $600 for a brief period, before recovering. It remains a $562bn company.