On April 23 Apple reported its third quarter financial results. Apple posted a $9.5 billion profit on $43.6 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s down from a profit of $11.6 billion on $39.2 billion in revenue. That’s the first year-over-year drop in profits and revenue in nearly a decade for the tech company. But still, stay assured Apple is doing just fine in the big scheme of things; they currently have a healthy cash balance of $145 billion. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad. Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software and services, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter (compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter); 19.5 million iPads (compared to 11.8 million); just under 4 million Macs (compared to 4 million); and 5.6 million iPods (compared to 7.7 million). Elsewhere, the App Store has seen 45 billion downloads, and iCloud has amassed 300 million users.

Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue between $33.5 billion to $35.5 billion.

[Via Apple; Engadget]

On Wednesday Apple reported its first quarter financial results and the company broke more records, naturally. Apple posted a $13.1 billion profit on $54.5 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $13.06 billion on $46.33 billion in revenue. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We’re thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter. We’re very confident in our product pipeline as we continue to focus on innovation and making the best products in the world.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones in the quarter (compared to 37 million in the year-ago quarter); 22.9 million iPads (compared to 15.4 million); 4.1 million Macs (compared to 5.2 million); and 12.7 million iPods (compared to 15.4 million). The company’s “hobby” Apple TV sold 2 million units representing a 60 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue between $41-$43 billion.

Leading up to and following Apple’s quarterly financial results, its stock (AAPL) took a nosedive below the $500 threshold. Today, January 24, it dropped 63.51 points (12.35%) to $450.50 when the market closed. After hours it dropped another 2.13 points to $448.37. If there was a time to announce an exciting new product that promises to revolutionize the way we watch and consume TV content, that time would be now.

[Via Apple]

On Thursday Apple reported its fourth quarter financial results, and it’s another record-breaker for the company. Apple posted a $8.2 billion profit on $36 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $6.62 billion on $28.72 billion in revenue. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results. We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 26.9 million iPhones (representing an 58 percent unit growth); 14 million iPads (representing a 26 percent unit growth); and 5.3 million iPods (representing an 19 percent unit decline). Their “hobby” known as Apple TV sold 1.3 million units generating revenue that Cook admits is ”quite small” but he is still dedicated to the streaming product.

Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.

[Via Apple; Engadget]

On Tuesday Apple reported its third quarter financial results, and while this wasn’t a typical record-setting quarter, it was one the company still remains confident about. Apple posted a $8.8 billion profit on $35 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $7.3 billion on $28.6 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Tim Cook: “We’re thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter. We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 4 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 2 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 26 million iPhones (representing an 28 percent unit growth); 17 million iPads (representing a 84 percent unit growth); and 6.8 million iPods (representing an 10 percent unit decline).

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $7.65.

[Via Apple]

On Tuesday Apple reported record March quarter results and they go like this. Apple posted a $11.6 billion profit on $39.2 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $6.0 billion on $24.7 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Tim Cook: “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 4 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 7 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 35.1 million iPhones (representing an 88 percent unit growth); an impressive 11.8 million iPads (representing a 151 percent unit growth); and 7.7 million iPods (representing an 15 percent unit decline).

Following this announcement, Apple stock (AAPL) jumped significantly to $610 (a +50 increase), just surpassing Google’s stock that was at $609 that day. Today APPL has cooled down a bit and rests at $603 and Google has taken the lead once more and holds steady at $614.98.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.

[Via Apple]

Apple’s 2012 first quarter financial results are in and it’s reporting record breaking numbers here including highest quarterly revenue and earnings ever and all-time record sales for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Apple posted a $13.06 billion profit on $46.33 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $6 billion on $26.74 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Tim Cook: ”We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); an impressive 37.04 million iPhones (representing a 128 percent unit growth); 15.43 million iPads (representing a 111 percent unit growth); and 15.4 million iPods (representing an 21 percent unit decline).

Other interesting facts to come out of the earnings call… Apple sold 1.4 million units of Apple TV, its designated “hobby” in the TV space; the company’s latest effort to revolutionize the education market has started off strong seeing over 600,000 downloads of iBooks Author from the Mac App Store; there are currently over 85 million people using Apple’s iCloud services; and CEO Tim Cook admitted this: “There is cannibalization of the Mac by the iPad, but we think there’s more cannibalization of Windows PCs by the iPad – we love that trend.” Oh snap, indeed.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $32.5 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.50.

[Via Apple; Engadget 1, 2, 3, 4]

Apple’s 2011 fourth quarter financial results have been posted, and for the first time in a long time they have not met Wall Street expectations. Apple posted a $6.62 billion profit on $28.27 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $4.31 billion on $20.34 billion in revenue.

Here’s the break down by product category.  Apple sold 4.89 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 17.07 million iPhones (representing a 21 percent unit growth); 11.12 million iPads (representing a 166 percent unit growth); and 6.62 million iPods (representing an 27 percent unit decline).

Why the low figures, especially in the iPhone department? Analysts are blaming the late introduction of the next iPhone (the iPhone 4S) and the fact that it wasn’t a totally redesigned iPhone 5. Though the numbers didn’t reach expectations, newly appointed CEO Tim Cook exuded optimism in a press release. ”We are thrilled with the very strong finish of an outstanding fiscal 2011, growing annual revenue to $108 billion and growing earnings to $26 billion. Customer response to iPhone 4S has been fantastic, we have strong momentum going into the holiday season, and we remain really enthusiastic about our product pipeline.” Apple did sell over four million iPhone 4S devices in just three days, so to say the product launch hurt the company would be downright false. Following the earnings announcement, Apple stock (which hit an all-time high of 422.24 today) fell 28.19 (-6.68%) after hours.

Looking ahead to the first quarter in 2012, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $37 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $9.30. Let’s see if they can get things back on track next time.

[Via Apple]

Apple’s 2011 third quarter financial results are in and it’s reporting its best quarter ever. Apple posted a $7.31 billion profit on $28.57 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $3.25 billion on $15.70 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: ”We’re thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent. Right now, we’re very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.95 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 14 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); a whopping 20.34 million iPhones (representing a 142 percent unit growth); 9.25 million iPads (representing a 183 percent unit growth); and 7.54 million iPods (representing an 20 percent unit decline).

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $25 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $5.50.

[Via Apple]

This week Google announced their newest vision of the future. “Make your phone your wallet.” On the surface, it’s that simple really. Google wants to improve the overall shopping experience and make transactions more streamlined for consumers and businesses alike. In essence, consumers will be able to run the Google Wallet app on their smartphone and use it to store credit card information on the device. Built-in NFC (near-field communication) technology, people will simply tap their phones on compatible readers at retailers and in seconds a transaction can take place. No fiddling for cash or plastic cards. In addition, Wallet will be integrated with Google Offers. If you sign up for Offers today (a Google service that is currently in beta), you will receive a new offer–deals on products and services at local or online businesses–in your inbox. Offers can also be manually searched for and saved in your Google Account. Accumulated offers are automatically synced with Google Wallet; so if you have an offer at Subway to save money on a sandwich, during your checkout the offer will instantly be applied during the transaction. It’s all seamless. In addition to storing credit cards and offers, Wallet can also save loyalty cards and gift cards that can then be used at matching retailers. Wallet will automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for consumers at checkout. Worried about security? Google says that all credit card information is securely stored on devices and Wallet enforces a PIN to be entered upon every transaction. Also, the required NFC antenna in phones is only activated when the screen is powered on so if you’re walking down the street with your phone sleeping in your pocket the secured data cannot be tampered with (and remember, a PIN is required to access the data).

Next let’s talk about partnerships. As you should know, Google is all about open ecosystems so their ultimate goal is to make the Wallet and Offers services ubiquitous in the retail space. But you have to start somewhere, right? The search giant has partnered with Citi Mastercard, First Data, Sprint, and a handful of retailers including Subway, Macy’s, Walgreens, and Toys ‘R Us to begin their field testing in San Fransisco and New York. At first the Google Wallet app will only work on the Nexus S 4G, the NFC-equipped Sprint smartphone. As NFC starts to expand to more devices, Google is open to bringing the app to more devices in the future. They even went on to say they’d be willing to share the app with other OS makers including Apple and RIM. It was specified that phones without the NFC chip can utilize Wallet so long as they have an NFC sticker ’round back. Google plans to release the app into the wild on a broader scale sometime this summer.

Here are a few more details that came out of the announcement. Initially the app will only accept Citi MasterCard or Google Prepaid Card; the latter can be funded from any of your existing plastic credit cards. Google Wallet will immediately be accepted at the hundreds of thousands of PayPass-enabled retailers nationally and globally. All consumers have to do is tap their phone to a PayPass terminal and the transaction will take place, available offers used and loyalty points acquired. For more information, check out the full press release after the break as well as video testimonials from the launch partners.

As is usually the case with Google, this is just the beginning. The company envisions a future where Wallet “will be the one thing that holds everything you need to carry” including boarding passes, tickets, ID, and even keys. It’s a future we’ve all been anticipating. Google’s dreaming big here, and it all starts with forcing commerce to fully trust and embrace the information highway. Unlike Google’s failed social service, Wallet might just be the wave of the future.

[Via Google 1, 2] (Click here for more…)

It’s happened again… Apple’s 2011 second quarter financial results are in and it’s another record-breaking one for the tech company. Apple posted a $5.99 billion profit on $24.67 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $3.07 billion on $13.5 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: ”With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we’re firing on all cylinders. We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 28 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 18.65 million iPhones (representing a 86 percent unit growth); and 9.02 million iPods (representing an 17 percent unit decline).  It was specified that the company sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter, and we can compare this total to the number of iPad sold in 2011 Q1: 7.33 million.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $23 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $5.03.

[Via Apple]

Apple’s first quarter financial results are in!  And it’s another record-breaking quarter for Jobs & co.  Number crunching time.  Apple posted a $6 billion profit on $26.74 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $3.38 billion on $15.68 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 4.13 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 23 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 16.24 million iPhones (representing a 86 percent unit growth); and 19.45 million iPods (representing an 7 percent unit decline).  This is the second quarter that includes iPad sales, and how did they do?  7.33 million iPads were sold and that’s way up from the total sold last quarter (3.27 million, in case you’re wondering).

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $22 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $4.90.

Unfortunately the earnings call administered by Oppenheimer and COO Tim Cook did not shed light on the health of Steve Jobs who decided to take a medical leave of absence from the company yesterday.  However, the call did bring to light an interesting news bite.  Cook spilled that Apple has invested a ton of money to secure a “very strategic” component for its products.  Though he failed to mention the mystery component, most sources are pinpointing it on the development of extremely high-resolution displays for future iterations of the iPhone and iPad.

Also during the call, Cook commented on iPad’s competitors.  ”If you look at what’s out there today, there’s not much,” said Cook. “There’s the ones that use Windows, they’re generally big and heavy and expensive. They have weak battery life, they require a keyboard or a stylus as an input device, customers are frankly just not interested in them. Then you have Android tablets, and the varieties that are out shipping today, their operating system wasn’t designed for tablets. Google has said this, this isn’t just Apple saying this. That means you have the size of a tablet that just isn’t reasonable for what we call a ‘real tablet experience.’ That’s just a scaled-up smartphone, which is a bizarre product category. If you do a side-by-side with an iPad, you’ll pick an iPad.”  He went on to uphold Job’s stance on Android from last quarter’s call: “We firmly believe that our integrated approach is better than the fragmented approach.”

[Via Apple; Engadget, here & here]

As 2010 nears its end, it’s time for companies to share how well (or poorly) they performed during the fourth quarter of the year.  As is the norm for Apple, Inc., Q4 has been another record breaker for them.  Apple posted a record revenue of $20.34 billion and net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a revenue of $12.21 billion and profit of $2.53 billion.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings-both all-time records for Apple.  iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up 91 percent year-over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter.  We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 27 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 14.1 million iPhones (representing a 91 percent unit growth); 9.05 million iPods (representing an 11 percent unit decline); and 4.19 million iPads were sold, succeeding the number of Macs sold!  That’s some crazy stuff right there.  And as for Jobs’ “hobby” that is Apple TV?  The new model sold 250,000 units over the course of its first 18 days on sale.

Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $23 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $4.80.  Saying this was a tremendous quarter for Apple is a huge understatement.

Normally this is where the Apple quarterly earnings post would conclude, but El Jobso couldn’t contain his excitement over the record breaking numbers so he decided to jump onto the conference call (listen to it here) and share some thoughts.  Charged thoughts on the competition.  Some choice quotes:

On RIM’s business model: “[iPhone] handily beat RIM’s most recent quarter.  We’ve now passed RIM and I don’t see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future.  They must move beyond their area of strength and comfort into the unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company.  I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third software platform, after iOS and Android.  With 300k apps on Apple’s app store, RIM has a high mountain ahead of them to climb.”  “I think at least now it’s a battle for developers, and a battle for the mindshare of developers, and a battle for the mindshare of customers, and I think right now iPhone and Android are winning that battle.”

On Google’s Android “openess” & fragmentation: “Google wants to characterize Android as open, and iOS and the iPhone as closed.  We think this is disingenuous.  Unlike Windows, which has the same interface on every machine, Android is very fragmented.  Compare this with iPhone, where every interface is the same.”  “Twitter client TwitterDeck recently launched their app for Android.  They reported that they had to contend with more than 100 different version of Android software on 244 different handsets.  The multiple hardware and software iterations presented developers with a daunting challenge.”  “We think this open versus closed argument is a smokescreen that hides the real question: What’s better for users, fragmented versus integrated?”  “We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google characterizes it as closed, and we believe that it will trump the fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google characterizes it as open.”

(Click here for more…)

At this time last year Microsoft reported its first annual sales decline, ever.  Things are definitely looking up in 2010 for the company that built Windows.  Today Microsoft posted its fourth quarter earnings and right off the bat you can see how the 175 million Windows 7 licenses (sold to date) have helped the company cash in a ton of the green stuff.  Microsoft posted a record revenue of $16.04 billion for the fourth quarter ended June 30; that’s a 22 percent increase over the year-ago quarter.  Profits reached a high of $4.52 billion.  For fiscal year 2010, Microsoft posted $62.48 billion of revenue and $18.76 in annual net income.  Says Microsoft CFO Peter Klein, “This quarter’s record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum.  The revenue growth, combined with our ongoing cost discipline, helped us achieve another quarter of margin expansion.”

Check out the Q4 revenue breakdown by category.  Windows and Windows Live racked in $4.55 billion (that’s a 43.5 percent increase from last year).  The Microsoft Business Division (which includes Office sales) scored $5.25 billion (a 15 percent increase).  The Entertainment and Devices Division (which includes Xbox 360, Zune, and Windows Mobile) picked up $1.6 billion (a 27.3 percent increase).  However there was a quarterly operating loss of $172 million.  The axing of Kin resulted in a $251 million increase in costs.  The Online Services Division (which includes Bing) brought in $565 million; online advertising revenue increased by 19 percent.  This category was also in the red, reporting a quarterly operating loss of $696 million.  Bing continues to gain marketshare against search giant Google.  Last, the Server and Tools Division (which includes Window Server, SQL Server, and Enterprise CAL Suites) brought in $4.01 billion (a 17 percent increase).

Chew on this: 1.5 million Xbox 360 consoles were sold this last quarter and over 25 million people have signed up for Xbox Live.  If the launch of Windows Phone 7 is a success and Kinect for Xbox 360 catches on with gamers, Micro$oft might just be able to pull themselves out of the red that the Entertainment and Devices Division has been stuck in for far too long.

[Via SeattlePiBlogs; Microsoft]

The third quarter of 2010 has come to a close.  And you know what that means: Apple gets to flaunt how much money its racked in thus far.  Yesterday Apple posted its Q3 earnings and–you guessed it–it was another record quarter for the tech company.  Apple posted a $3.25 billion profit on $15.7 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $1.83 billion on $9.73 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4.  iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.” (Emphasis added, of course.)

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 8.4 million iPhones (representing a 61 percent unit growth); 9.41 million iPods (representing an 8 percent unit decline).  This is the first quarter that includes iPad sales, so how did they do?  3.27 million iPads were sold, nearly matching the total amount of Macs sold.  Boom.  And here’s an interesting stat: international sales accounted for 52 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $18 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $3.44.  Antennagate or no Antennagate, Apple isn’t going anywhere people.       Job(s) well done.

[Via Engadget]

On Wednesday officials unveiled a new design for the $100 bill.  Mr. Franklin joins pals Lincoln, Hamilton, Jackson, and Grant in the fight against counterfeiters.  The new $100 note includes the following security enhancements: A 3D Security Ribbon that nearly cuts the bill in half at the center contains images of bells and 100s that move and change from one to the other as you tilt the note.  The ribbon is woven into the paper, not printed on it.  The Bell in the Inkwell, located on the front of the bill to the right of Franklin, changes color from copper to green when the note is tilted, an effect that makes it seem to appear and disappear within the copper inkwell.  On the back there’s a new vignette of Independence Hall featuring the rear, rather than the front, of the building.  The Franklin portrait and the vignette have been enlarged and the oval around them has been removed.  Also on the back you’ll find a large gold 100; it helps those with visual impairments to distinguish the denomination.  The bill retains several enhancements from the last update including the portrait watermark, the security thread, and the color-shifting 100.  The new $100 notes will begin circulating on February 10, 2011.  Look in the gallery below to learn more about the visual security enhancements; after the break there’s a short animation that highlights the bill.    Welcome to the club, Franklin.  Washington, where you at?

[Via NewMoney]

(Click here for more…)

As another quarter of the year flies by, Apple posts its positive earnings.  Check it: Apple posted revenue of $3.07 billion profit on $13.5 billion in revenue.  (Compare this to one year ago, Apple posted revenue of $9.08 billion on $1.62 billion in revenue.)  Says Steve Jobs: “We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits up 90 percent.”

Here’s a breakdown of each product category.  Apple sold 2.94 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 8.75 million iPhones (representing a 131 percent unit growth); 10.89 million iPods (representing a 1 percent unit decline).  Since the iPad was just released into the market, it’s too early to tally those numbers.  But overall, Apple has done it yet again!  Money in the bank, ya’ll.  Jobs looks to the future: “We’ve launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.”  Cough–iPhone 4–cough.

The stock market responded graciously to the earnings announcement.  Apple stock (APPL) closed at an all-time high of 259.22, jumping nearly six percent from the previous day.

[Via Apple]

Apple recently announced their first quarter financial results and per usual, they made quite a hefty profit.  $3.38 billion to be exact (or $3.67 profit per share).  They brought in revenues of $15.68 billion.  Note that these numbers are up from last quarter’s profit of $2.26 billion on $11.88 billion in revenue.  More to the point, this is the best quarter they have ever had.  Let’s break it down by product: Apple sold 3.36 million Macs (representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter), 8.7 million iPhones (representing 100 percent unit growth), and 21 million iPods (representing an eight percent unit decline).  No surprise there; iPod sales have been declining for some time now.  Note that this decline factors general iPod sales; iPod touch sales were up 55 percent.

According to the earnings PR, “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”  *Cough–Apple Tablet–cough.*  Sorry, I was just clearing my throat.  Might as well throw in a possibility of seeing the next iLife, iPhone OS 4.0, and maybe even witness AT&T’s iPhone exclusitivity fall by the wayside to Verizon.  Remember to check back here tomorrow night for all Apple announcements.

Every quarter seems to surpass the last financially for Apple.  With Steve Jobs at the helm, what else more could you expect?  The man is an inspiration, and his company is his vision.  “Apple at the core, its core value, is that we believe that people with passion can change the world for the better.”  Watch as Steve Jobs (in shorts!) motivates the industry in a video captured about ten years ago when he returned to Apple.

[Via Apple; Engadget; Gizmodo]

Today Apple held their fiscal 2009 thrid quarter conference call with investers and analysts.  Apparently Apple had the “best non-holiday quarter [in terms of] revenue and earnings.”  From their official press release:

The Company posted revenue of $8.34 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, or $1.35 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.3 percent, up from 34.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 44 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple admitted that “we expect traditional MP3 players (read: iPod classic, nano, and shuffle) to decline over time as we cannibalize ourselves.”  Basically, Apple points out here that all iPod models (except for the touch) are “walking dinosaurs.”  Apple sees the iPod touch and iPhone continuing to dominate the market well into next year, while the traditional iPods will continue to decline in sales.  More from the offiicial press release:

The Company sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, representing a seven percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhones sold were 5.2 million, representing 626 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

If you’re wondering about Mac sales: Apple sold 2.6 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a four percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

Other notable mentions include…Apple on its relationship with AT&T: “I think it’s an excellent relationship and we’re very happy with it.” …Apple on the netbook rumors: “At this point we don’t see a way to build a great product for this $399, $499…for this kind of pricepoint unit. Some customers, maybe many customers buying these become disappointed and disenchanted buying these.”  …Apple on the recent tablet rumors: “…without discounting anything for the future, I think most customers buying a portable want a full-featured notebook.”  And “many people won’t be happy” with the crappy experience of a netbook, so Apple is “only going to play in something that’s very innovative that we’re very proud of.”

The title of the official press release summarizes it best: Apple Reports Third Quarter Results – Best Non-Holiday Quarter Revenue and Earnings in Apple History.  Way to go, Apple!

[Via Apple; Engadget; quotes from Gizmodo]