Apple gets iPhone boost

The electronics giant Apple blew away analysts' forecasts with a record-breaking set of quarterly profits yesterday in New York. Its net profits hit $1.23bn in the third quarter, up from $1.07bn the previous year, an improvement of 15 per cent. The company sold over 5.2m iPhones in the period, seven times more than in the same three month-period in 2008. Sales jumped 12 per cent to $8.3bn, beating estimates.
 
Behind the improvement was not only the immense popularity of the iPhone but also a new model, the 3GS, launched in June, which boosted sales. As a result of the improvement fourth quarter estimates were pushed up too.

The company has recently been dogged by concerns over the health of founder and chief executive Steve Jobs, but shrugged off those problems to achieve the impressive results. Jobs, who received a liver transplant recently, said of the figures: "We're proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple's history. We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone, and we're busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months."

The one area which might concern Apple mangement is the performance of the iPod, which saw a seven per cent fall in sales on the year. However it didn’t worry investors who pushed Apple shares up nearly four per cent in after-hours trading.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYINGAndy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities on bbc.co.uk: "Their gross profits continue to surprise people and there is a return to product momentum...a return to growth in the Mac business, and then the iPhone is doing tremendously well and that is a potent combination."

Andrew Keen in the Daily Telegraph: "What's really scary about the Apple numbers is that they barely include sales figures for the new 3GS iphone which only became available a few days before the end of their quarter. And, as I can personally attest, having patiently waited in line for an hour at my local Bay Area Apple store to buy the new phone, sales of the 3GS are extremely brisk in the US, with 43 per cent of Apple stores reporting this week that they’ve sold out of the device." ·