Apple reports record financial quarter

Apple reported Mac sales up 33 per cent and iPhone sales up 100 per cent

Apple has released record-breaking quarterly results, showing revenues of $15.68bn (£9.65bn), up from $11.88bn (£7.31bn) in the first quarter of last year.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer, explained that the fourth quarter was Apple's best ever, with Mac sales up 33 per cent and iPhone sales up 100 per cent. Only iPod sales fell, showing an eight per cent decline which the company expects to get worse.

"We are extremely pleased with the record-breaking quarter," he said. "We are also incredibly excited with our new product pipeline."

Oppenheimer refused to be drawn on Apple's plans for its launch event on Wednesday.

Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, said that 33 per cent growth in the desktop market was particularly exciting, in light of IDC's overall forecast of just 17 per cent growth. Mac sales were very strong in the education sector.

IPhone shipments rose to 8.7 million in the quarter, an increase of 100 per cent, with a sales value of $5.58bn (£3.43bn). Overseas sales were very strong, up 70 per cent in Australia and 100 per cent in China.

Some 58 per cent of Apple's sales came from outside the US, and the company will be focusing on overseas growth to ensure continued expansion.

The iPhone also gained significant support as a business device in the US and Europe, according to Cook.

"On a corporate basis we saw an acceleration of association with business and the iPhone after the launch of the 3G model. Seventy per cent of Fortune 100 enterprises are piloting and deploying iPhone support, and 50 per cent of FT 100 enterprises are doing the same," he said.

Cook acknowledged that there had been problems in a few locations with coverage support from AT&T, but said that the operator had undertaken a network upgrade and that Apple had reviewed and approved the plans.

Carolina Milanesi, a research director at Gartner, told V3.co.uk that iPhone uptake had grown steadily since the launch, and had picked up with the 3GS model which added hardware encryption.

"The consumerisation of IT is impacting more and more businesses, with employees being consumers first and wanting to bring those devices that they love into the workplace," she said.

On the retail side, Cook said that Apple will add to its high street presence with a further 40 Apple Stores, half of which will be overseas. More than half of new Mac buyers at the stores had never bought from Apple before, and sales were up nine per cent.

Apple's iTunes and App Store also did well in the quarter, while continuing to expand. Cook dismissed the concerns of some developers over the applications approval process, and pointed out that Apple accepted over 90 per cent of applications within 14 days and the vast bulk of rejections were down to buggy code.

Mike McGuire, vice president of research for Gartner, suggested that Apple will need to grow its developer base given the number of alternatives coming up, such as Google's Android devices.

"There is developer angst over approvals. Given the volume of [application submissions] Apple gets, there are always going to be some outliers. Apple needs to be as transparent as possible," he said.

The only failing product line for Apple was the iPod, which saw an eight per cent decline in sales in the quarter, although sales of the iPod Touch platforms rose nine per cent.

Overall iPod sales will decline next quarter, said Apple, given the seasonal element of iPod sales.