Iphone sales push Apple revenues to $25bn

GADGET MAKER Apple has released its financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2011, reporting record revenue growth of 83 per cent and profits up by 95 per cent.

Apple brought in revenue of $24.67 billion for the period ending 26 March, nearly doubling the $13.5 billion it earned in the same period a year ago. Net profit was also up significantly from $3.07 billion to $5.99 billion.

These figures were higher than expected, even with already high analyst expectations, which might reassure investors fearful about the impact of component shortages following the recent Japanese earthquake.

A big increase Iphone sales was a large contributor to the high growth. The company sold 18.65 million Iphones in the second quarter, marking a 113 per cent increase over its second quarter last year. This also marked a 15 per cent increase over the first quarter.

Apple sold 3.76 million Macs, a 28 per cent increase, showing that there is still a growing market for alternatives to Windows-based PCs.

The ageing Ipod did not do so well, however, selling only 9.02 million units, a 17 per cent fall from Q2 2010 figures and a much larger 54 per cent fall from first quarter sales.

Apple sold 4.69 million Ipads, a significant number, but also a 36 per cent drop compared to the first quarter. This is likely because Apple's first fiscal quarter included the busy Christmas shopping season.

For the third quarter Apple expects to bring in $23 billion in revenue and diluted earnings per share of $5.03, which are lower figures than those reported for the second quarter. It seems likely that Apple will beat these estimates.

These strong results have helped Apple's shares, which, at the time of writing, climbed $4.55, 1.35 per cent, to $342.41. µ