By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco
Published: January 21 2009 23:24 | Last updated: January 22 2009 01:26
A consumer love affair with Apple products appears to be surviving the recession, with the Silicon Valley company reporting record sales and profits in the final quarter of 2008.
Apple said there were record sales of its iPod media players, while iPhone unit sales were up 88 per cent compared with a year ago and Mac computer sales rose 9 per cent. Its shares rose 9 per cent on the news.
“Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history – surpassing $10bn in quarterly revenue for the first time ever,” said Steve Jobs, chief executive.
Mr Jobs is on a six-month medical leave of absence and did not take part in an analyst conference call. The Bloomberg news agency reported on Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission was carrying out a review of Apple’s statements about his health problems to ensure investors were not misled.
Tim Cook, chief operating officer, who is running day-to-day operations in his absence, told analysts he believed that Apple was doing the best work in its history and the company’s values were so deeply embedded that it would do well regardless of who was running the group.
“There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among the Apple executive team . . . We believe we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing,” he said.
Apple said it sold 2.5m Mac computers in its first quarter ending in December, up 9 per cent on the year-ago quarter. iPod sales grew 3 per cent to a record 22.7m and 4.4m iPhones were sold.
Revenues of $10.17bn and profits of $1.61bn, or $1.78 per diluted share, were ahead of Wall Street expectations of $9.74bn in sales and earnings per share of $1.40, according to Reuters Estimates.
Peter Oppenheimer, chief financial officer, said low visibility made forecasting challenging. He predicted second-quarter sales of $7.6bn to $8bn and earnings of 90 cents to a dollar. This was below analyst forecasts of revenues of $8.1bn and earnings of $1.12 per share, but Apple is noted for its conservative forecasts.
In extended trading, its shares rose nearly 9 per cent to $90.02.
Apple said there were record sales of its iPod media players, while iPhone unit sales were up 88 per cent compared with a year ago and Mac computer sales rose 9 per cent. Its shares rose 9 per cent on the news.
“Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history – surpassing $10bn (£7bn) in quarterly revenue for the first time ever,” said Steve Jobs, chief executive.
Mr Jobs is on a six-month medical leave of absence and did not take part in an analyst conference call. The Bloomberg news agency reported on Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission was carrying out a review of Apple’s statements about his health problems to ensure investors were not misled.
Tim Cook, chief operating officer, who is running day-to-day operations in his absence, told analysts he believed that Apple was doing the best work in its history and the company’s values were so deeply embedded that it would do well regardless of who was running the group.
“There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among the Apple executive team ... We believe we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing,” he said.
Apple said it sold 2.5m Mac computers in its first quarter ending in December, up 9 per cent on the year-ago quarter. IPod sales grew 3 per cent to a record 22.7m and 4.4m iPhones were sold.
Revenues of $10.17bn and profits of $1.61bn, or $1.78 per diluted share, were ahead of Wall Street expectations of $9.74bn in sales and earnings per share of $1.40, according to Reuters Estimates.
Peter Oppenheimer, chief financial officer, said low visibility made forecasting challenging. He predicted second-quarter sales of $7.6bn to $8bn and earnings of 90 cents to a dollar.
This was below analyst forecasts of revenues of $8.1bn and earnings of $1.12 per share, but Apple is noted for its conservative forecasts.
In extended trading, its shares rose nearly 9 per cent to $90.02.
Sales of the 3G iPhone fell in its first quarter, failing to match the impetus achieved when it was launched in the previous quarter. Sales of 4.4m units were below analyst expectations of 5m.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
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