Technology giant Apple’s mobile operating system (iOS) division skyrocketed in sales in the last three months of 2012, while sales of its Mac computers fell, the company’s financial results for the first quarter, released yesterday, show.
According to the report, Apple made an average of US$4.2 billion every week throughout the quarter, culminating in quarterly revenue of $54.5 billion and net profit of $13.1 billion.
“We’re thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We’re very confident in our product pipeline as we continue to focus on innovation and making the best products in the world.”
The company sold a record 47.8 million iPhones, up from 37 million in the previous year, and 22.9 million iPads, compared to 15.4 million a year ago.
Seemingly underscoring the way that mobile devices are affecting traditional desktop PC sales, Apple’s Mac division fared badly, plunging to 4.1 million Macs sold from the previous 5.2 million. iPod sales suffered a similar fate, witnessing a slump in sales from 12.7 million to 2.1 million.
“We’re pleased to have generated over $23 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “We established new all-time quarterly records for iPhone and iPad sales, significantly broadened our ecosystem, and generated Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever.”
During a conference call soon after the results were released, Cook contested recent rumours suggesting that the demand for iPhones had dropped. He told listeners via via GigaOm: “I don’t want to comment on any particular rumour, but I’d question the accuracy of any kind of rumor about our plans. I’d stress that even if a particular data point were factual, it would be impossible to interpret [the meaning] for our overall business.”
Cook further confronted those claiming Apple is running out of ideas, saying the company’s product pipeline is “chock full” of “incredible stuff”.
“The most important thing to Apple is to make the best products in the world that enrich customers’ lives,” he said.
Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of US$2.65 per share of the company’s common stock, payable on February 14, 2013 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 11, 2013.
