Apple quarterly profits less than anticipated

Published:  25 Jul at 9 AM

Although Apple’s net profits have risen 21 per cent for the quarter ending in June hitting $8.8 billion, the figure was less than expected. Sales for the computer and gadget manufacturer have risen from $28.6 billion for the three months in 2011 to $35 billion for the latest quarter.

However, sales of the iPod were down 10 per cent and sales of Mac computers rose just two per cent. Even though 26 million iPhones were sold, an increase of 28 per cent, many analysts said that demand was slower than they had predicted.

The company’s star performer was the iPad which sold 17 million units in the three months to June, a rise of 84 per cent on the period a year earlier. Tim Cook, chief executive of the most valuable company on the planet, said he was very pleased with the performance of the iPad.

Wedgewood Partners analyst, David Rolfe, explained that the iPhone had a higher margin than the iPad and that lower than predicted sales of the mobile device were likely to have an impact on Apple’s bottom line. A Thomson Reuters poll showed that analysts had been expecting revenue of $37.2 billion for the quarter.

Overseas sales of Apple products are likely to come under pressure as the dollar gains strength. The company is also facing strong competition from HTC’s One X smartphones and the Samsung Galaxy S3.