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As companies like Sony and Toshiba report record losses Apple has reported a 15% increase in sales and $1.7 billion in profits due to strong sales of iPods, iPhones, music and video content and applications. Sales of Mac computers dropped. The Company has also said that Steve Jobs is set to return to the Company soon.
Apple reported profits of US$1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to US$1.05 billion in 2008. Revenues increased 8.7% to US$8.16 billion from $7.51 billion. Gross margins increased to 36.4% from 32.9%.
In comparison, Sony sales are down 95% and the company is expected to report losses of over $3B.
In the quarter to March 2009 iPhone sales doubled to 3.79 million units as carriers moved to sell the phone as a standalone device. iPod sales hit 11 million which was up 3% on the same period in 2008. Mac sales declined 3%. This was the first time in 6 years that Apple has witnessed a decline in Mac sales which topped out at 2.2 million units.
The company has admitted that the premium price tag associated with the purchase of an Apple notebook is hurting them amid the recession as consumers hunt down “value for money” deals.
According to insiders at Apple Australia the company has had an excellent first quarter and have continued to gain market share particularly with their iPhone and iPod products. Sales of Mac notebooks are also said to be up.
During a teleconference with financial analysts, CFO Peter Oppenheimer said chief executive and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs would return to the company at the end of June. Jobs has been on medical leave due to complications following surgery for pancreatic cancer.
“We look forward to Steve’s return to Apple at the end of June,” Oppenheimer said.
However, the computer maker forecast a decline in revenues for the next quarter, because of the current economic recession.
Also helping Apple is record sales of application downloads from their App Store which is tipped to hit 1 billion at around 3AM tomorrow morning. Currently, the counter on the main Apple.com claims it’s about 10 million away from the major number. But, Apple apparently already knows when the billion mark is going to be passed, because the billion celebration page is ready to go and can easily be accessed, right now.
Apple is predicting when it will cross the mark on April 23 US time and the 24th in Australia. To find out how we know simply go to your system settings and set the date and time to anytime after that mark, and reload the main Apple page. You’ll be greeted by big picture on the landing page reading, “Thanks a billion. Over a billion downloads in just nine months. Only on the App Store.”
Shares rose 2% after-hours to $123.89 as the quarter’s results topped expectations.
