Friday 26 July 2013

Apple Q3 2013 results surprise, and bemuse.

Just when it was predicted that the iPhone was on the decline, or at least sales were remaining flat, Apple have gone and blown us away by selling over 31m iPhones in the last quarter. 

Estimates were suggesting around the 26-28m mark, and to be frank, that was fairly ambitious. Compared to the same time last year, Apple have sold 5m more iPhones, and that's the bewildering thing given the disappointment with the iPhone 5 and continued questions over Apple's innovation. Where this market has appeared from, is unknown thus far. These numbers are particularly impressive given that we are particularly likely to see a new iPhone in September, and another budget model to boot. We could be looking at huge iPhone sales numbers emerging from Apple in Q12014. 

Another surprise (although forecasted) is the significant (near 3m) drop in iPad sales. It's difficult to see what's the direct influence on these figures. Android tablets? I find that hard to believe, especially as there still isn't a worthy competitor to the iPad. The Nexus 7 is streaks ahead of the iPad Mini (LINK), but the iPad is in its own league. It could simply be the sheer weight of cheaper Android tablets taking its toll on iPad sales. It could also be financial situation or it could simply be that tablets are losing popularity. Apple will be hoping for a pick-up when the rumoured new iPad is released in the latter stages of the year.
     The other bad news for Apple was that Mac sales also faltered, but only slightly, falling just 200,000 in the same time period to 3.8m, but given the slow decline of laptops and desktop computers, this isn't particular concerning for Apple.

Cook hinted at some Apple innovation over the rest of the year saying they were "laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.” Whether or not this is just to excite investors is unknown, but Apple will have to do a lot better this time around, than the same period last year.

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