Apple posts highest revenue and earnings ever behind strong iPhone and Mac sales

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

iPhone, iPad and even Mac sales have been so strong of late that Apple has hit its highest ever revenue and earnings this quarter. Apple Inc. posted a record revenue of $20.34 billion and sold 3.89 million Macs, 14.1 million iPhones and 4.1 million iPad tablet computers. But more importantly, Apple surpassed BlackBerry maker RIM's 12.1 million smartphone sales during the same period, strengthening its position against the current no. 2 smartphone maker.

“We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings—both all-time records for Apple,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO during the Q4 2010 financial results conference call earlier today.

Apple's success is bolstered by its innovative products like the iPhone 4 (above) as well as the iPad tablet which still remains without a viable competitor and has taken the consumer electronics market by storm. Both devices can run over 300,000 applications sold on the App Store as well as rent or purchase from a library of thousands of music and movie titles from the company's thriving iTunes Store. Apple's ecosystem is also fueled by the commercial success of its Apple retail stores which now number over 300 around the world.

The recently launched C $119 AppleTV streaming video device has also sold a notable 250,000 units in just the first six weeks.

The company's financial press release stated that, "Apple sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter, a 27 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 14.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 91 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.05 million iPods during the quarter, representing an 11 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.  Apple also sold 4.19 million iPads during the quarter."

As the popularity of the company's lifesaving product, the iPod, declined  slightly this quarter but consider that there have been over 260,000,000 units sold since 2001.  The introduction of the iPad secured the company's future in an entirely new segment that it has dominated. 7-inch tablets from rivals Research in Motion and Samsung (running Google's Android OS) are set to launch within the next couple of months but Apple CEO Steve Jobs had an interesting observation about the competition.

"We think the 7 inch tablets will be dead on arrival, and manufacturers will realize they're too small and abandon them next year. They'll then increase the size, abandoning the customers and developers who bought into the smaller format,"Jobs said.

"iPad incorporates everything we've learned about building high value products. We create our own A4 chip, software, battery chemistry, enclosure, everything. This results in an incredible product at a great price. The proof will be in the pricing of our competitors' products, which will offer less for more," he added.

“We’re thrilled with the performance and strength of our business, generating almost $5.7 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.  “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, we expect revenue of about $23 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $4.80.”  

In related news, Apple is set for a big announcement on Wednesday, October 20th which will focus on Mac related launches as well as a possible roadmap of the future of the company's OS X operating system.

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2010 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on October 18, 2010 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq410/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.