Apple Sets Tech Sector Record for Quarterly Sales
Apple inc., the world's most valuable tech firm issued issued its fiscal first-quarter results Tuesday, posting higher earnings for one quarter than any tech firm ever has. The results contained a series of positives for the Cupertino, California tech giant, as it sold 37 million iPhones during the quarter, twice what it sold in the same period a year ago, while iPad sales also doubled to a record 15.4 million during the holiday period. The company also moved 5.2 million Macs between October and December, marking the first time in Apple's illustrious history it sold more than 5 million PCs in a quarter.
In the three months ended December 31st, Apple said it generated a staggering $46.3 billion in sales, an all-time record for a tech company. The figure represents a 73 percent increase of the company's sales in the final three months of 2010, and easily surpassed the $38.9 billion in sales expected by analysts in a recent Reuters poll, on average. For the entire year, Apple posted overall sales of $127.8 billion putting it in a tight race with Hewlett-Packard for highest sales by a US tech firm. The company is also on pace to surpass Samsung this year in sales, an achievement that would make Apple the world's biggest tech firm in terms of sales.
Apple said that its net income in its fiscal first quarter totaled $13 billion, or $13.87 per share, more than double its earnings from the year-ago quarter. It was one of the most profitable quarters for an American company ever, trailing only Exxon Mobil's $14.8 billion in earnings during the fall of 2008, when oil prices soared to all-time highs. As it has with past stellar quarters, Apple will likely be sitting on the bulk of those earnings, as the company now has cash reserves of $97.6 billion on its balance sheet.
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