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Title: Apple Posts Q2 Profits Post by: HCK on April 20, 2010, 11:00:08 pm Apple Posts Q2 Profits
Listening in on their Q2 -2010 Financial Results conference call, we can say that Cupertino's got a lot to be proud of this time around: It's been one heck of a quarter for them with Q2 profits at an all time high, with the company's overall profits driven by a stronger product mix, lower costs and fixed cost leverage from higher than expected profits in the march quarter. The March quarter's net profits totaled $3.07 billion. That's a lot of loose cash floating around. Apple says that their priority for the profit is to maintain it as usable capital.During the March quarter, Apple shipped 8.75 million iPhones, beating their own expectations by 1.75 units. As for the company's computer sales, they managed to ship 2.94 million Macs out to consumers, once again smashing the company's sales expectations. Overall profits were driven by a stronger product mix, lower costs and fixed cost leverage from higher than expected profits in the march quarter.Even the iPod sales, which took something of a minor beating last May are showing signs of a rebound, with Apple shipping 10.89 million units. Not too shabby, especially when you considering the fact that they only expected to sell 9 million. The strong numbers once again secured the iPod's title of being the best selling MP3 player in the world. Take that, Zune.Apple sold 8.75 million iPhones in the last quarter, with 5.5 billion dollars made from carriers payments. Why did they do so well? Well, Apple increased the handset's reach by offering the phones to an increased number of carriers in 88 countries around the world, with eight carriers added in key countries in Asia and Europe. Existing carriers preformed well according to the mobile device manufacturer. For example, for the first half of the fiscal year, mainland China showed profits of almost $1.3 billion. This is up over 200% from the previous year. Additional iPhone profits have also been found over the past year, as a number of iPhone markets have moved from exclusive to non-exclusive. In a cautious tone, Apple says that this does not mean that they will be opening up the use of the iPhone for all networks everywhere: They are assessing iPhone network exclusivity on a country-by-country basis.Sales results for the iPad are very positive. Reviews from pundits and consumers alike have been 'outstanding;' a fact that is obvious to anyone trying to purchase one outside of the United States. Interestingly, Apple says that in the last quarter there was no impact on iPod or Mac sales because of the impending arrival of the iPad. Whether or not the iPad will cannibalize the sales of iPods or Macs moving forward is a question that will only be answered with time. The company says that they feel strong about their ability to meet iPad demand, and are in the process of 'adding capability' to meet consumer demand for the device.In the area of Apple retail, Apple Store profits are up 22% over one year ago. One half of Macs sold in Apple Stores were purchased by customers who had never purchased a Mac before. Apple says that they expected that a large number of the units sold were due to the product line refresh and educational purchases. 47 million visitors were hosted in Apple Stores during the quarter. Over 700,000 attended personal training sessions, with 600,000 taking part in Apple's One-on-One program. Whoa.Even the red-headed stepchild of the Apple product family, AppleTV, has enjoyed a 34% year by year increase in profitability as of the end of the March quarter. However, Apple still considers it to be a 'hobby,' with actual unit numbers being humbled by the avalanche of sales seen by the company's other products.On the topic of component pricing, Apple was as always, mum. They neither confirmed nor denied that component costs would affect the per-unit pricing of their products. There was also no word on whether iPad or iPod touch users will be paying for the 4.0 software upgrade.To sum up, Apple's made themselves a boat load of money, and the outlook for higher profits moving forward is looking ever brighter.For those of you interested in hearing the financial scuttlebutt firsthand, the conference call will be hosted on iTunes and on Apple's website tonight by approximately 5pm Pacific time. http://www.maclife.com/article/news/apple_posts_q2_profits |