Apple post record profits

2,496,000 Macs and 11,011,000 iPods sold

21 July 2008 23:27 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Apple has defied the Credit Crunch and posted an increase in quarterly profits based on last year's figures for the same timeframe however it wasn't enough to dispell fears on Wall Street that the American economy was heading for rougher times as share prices dropped.

According to Apple, in Q3 2008, which covers April, May and June, Apple shipped 2,496,000 Mac computers and 11,011,000 iPods during the quarter however said that sales for the last quarter of the year would be $500 million lower than expected.

The Mac computers represent a 41% unit growth and 43% revenue growth over the year-ago quarter while the iPod sales only represents a 12% unit growth and 7% revenue growth over the year-ago quarter.

Quarterly iPhone units sold were 717,000 compared to 270,000 in the year-ago-quarter although it's worth noting that at that time it was only available in the US.

The Company posted revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.8%, down from 36.9% in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 42% of the quarter’s revenue.

"We’re proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple’s history", said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we’re busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months."