Fourth-quarter revenue, profit up for Apple on iPhone, iPad sales

Fourth-quarter revenue, profit up for Apple on iPhone, iPad sales

Apple ended its 2012 fiscal year with a solid quarter that saw growth for the iPhone and iPad as well as flat Mac sales amid a challenging market for PC makers.

For its fiscal fourth quarter ended on Sept. 29, the company said Thursday that it tallied revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion—its “highest September revenue and earnings ever,” according to chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer. Those figures were up 27 percent and 24 percent, respectively, from year-ago sales and profits. That translates to $8.67 per share during the fourth-quarter, a 23 percent increase from last year.

Apple’s sales topped analysts’ expectations of $35.8 billion for the quarter, but fell short of the $8.75 a share earnings that Wall Street was looking for. During the company’s third-quarter earnings announcement, Oppenheimer told analysts to expect $34 billion in revenue and earnings of $7.65 a share.

If Wall Street reacts negatively to Apple missing analysts’ earnings expectations, it’s likely to also respond poorly to the guidance Apple gave for the coming quarter, which includes the busy holiday season. Oppenheimer says that Apple is expecting to tally revenue of $52 billion and report earnings of $11.75 per share. The revenue forecast would be ahead of the $46.3 billion Apple recorded for its fiscal first quarter of 2012, but its earnings guidance is significantly below the $13.87 per share it tallied for the 2012 holiday quarter. Oppenheimer cited a number of factors for the lower earnings forecast: Apple’s first quarter will have only 13 weeks in 2013 as opposed to the 14 weeks in the 2012 quarter; the U.S. dollar is stronger; and gross margins are changing due to the spate of recent Apple product launches.

Record iPhone sales

In a quarter that ended with the introduction of the iPhone 5, Apple says it sold 26.9 million smartphones. That’s an increase of 58 percent from last year’s fourth quarter, a time when Apple blamed rumors of a forthcoming iPhone update for putting a damper on sales. This quarter’s phones sales set a record for the July-to-September time frame, Oppenheimer said.

iPhone sales grew 58 percent over last year. That compares to 45 percent growth for the overall smartphone market.

Apple didn’t break down how many of the phones it sold during the quarter were iPhone 5s. (It previously reported that it had sold 5 million iPhones during the first three days the phone was on sale.) However, Oppenheimer said that demand for the newly launched phone was “phenomenal.”

“Demand for iPhone 5 continues to outstrip supply, and we’re working hard to get more into customers’ hands,” Oppenheimer said during a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss Apple’s quarterly performance.

Apple saw $17.1 billion in recognized revenue from its iPhone business for the quarter. That’s up 56 percent from $11 billion in 2011’s fourth quarter.

When Apple first announced the iPhone 5, it said it would launch the smartphone in 100 countries by year’s end. CEO Tim Cook told analysts that the company still expected to hit that number.

iPad record

iPad sales rose 26 percent over last year, with Apple selling 14 million tablets. That’s another September quarterly record, according to Apple.

iPad sales were ahead of the company’s expectations, Oppenheimer said. The company recorded strong year-over-year growth for its tablet across all the geographic regions where it does business.

Recognized revenue from iPad sales rose a little less than 9 percent year-over-year to $7.5 billion during the quarter.

Combining iPad sales with sales of iPhone and iPod touches, Apple says that it sold more than 44 million iOS devices.

Apple’s sales figures obviously don’t include the just-announced iPad mini, which the company unveiled earlier this week. Still, Apple’s 7.9-inch tablet was a topic of conversation during Thursday’s conference call as analysts pressed Apple on the mini’s $329 price tag.

“When we set out to build the iPad mini, we didn’t set out to be a small, cheap tablet,” Oppenheimer said. “We set out to build a full iPad.”

Cook dismissed lower-cost offerings from the likes of Amazon and Kindle on the tablet front. “We’ve seen low-cost challengers before,” he said. �