By Wall Street analysts had a field day today: Apple’s fourth quarter results were released, surpassing most observers’ expectations. With iPod and Mac sales going strong, the big unknown was the iPad’s performance. That’s turned out to be quite impressive, opening up a considerable new revenue stream for the Cupertino company. You’ve got the figures below, followed by a breakdown for iPads and iPhones.
In the 4th quarter, Apple made $20.34 billion in revenue, $4.31 billion of which are profits – that translates into 3.44$ earnings per share. That’s a 67% increase from last year’s 12.21 billion, making it an all-time record for Apple.
IPhones were one of the big growth engines for the company – during Q4 it shipped 14.1 million units worldwide, beating RIM by nearly 2 million units. This is double last year’s Q4 number, and at an average selling price of $610 it makes a pretty big chunk of Apple’s revenue stream.
Ipads were considered quite a gamble following their unveiling, with analysts not sure whether a market for such a device existed. That question seems to be settled now, as Q4 shipments reached 4.19 million tablets, making almost $7.5 billion in six months. In its first six months, the tablet brought more than $5 billion of revenue in Apple’s coffers, with a 26-country availability range. This means the iPad’s been eating into sales of netbooks and low-end laptops, at an average selling price of $645. Indeed, if we consider the iPad as a PC, that puts Apple in first place in the US, in terms of PC market share.
An impressive fourth quarter for Apple, and a boon for investors, who saw stock prices soar past the $300 mark, with an almost $10 nudge following the report.