Apple's Profits Fall, Even As Revenue And iPhone Sales Rise

Apple's Profits Fall, Even As Revenue And iPhone Sales Rise
ARCHIV: Das Logo des Computerunternehmens Apple, ein Apfel, aufgenomme am Apple-Store in Frankfurt am Main (Foto vom 06.10.11). Apple stellt am Donnerstag (25.10.12) die aktuellen Quartalszahlen vor. (zu dapd-Text) Foto: Martin Oeser/dapd
ARCHIV: Das Logo des Computerunternehmens Apple, ein Apfel, aufgenomme am Apple-Store in Frankfurt am Main (Foto vom 06.10.11). Apple stellt am Donnerstag (25.10.12) die aktuellen Quartalszahlen vor. (zu dapd-Text) Foto: Martin Oeser/dapd
AP

Apple has sold a record number of iPhones in three months - but its profits have fallen anyway.

The Californian tech giant said it sold 33.8 million iPhones in the last financial quarter to the end of September.

That represents a record for the final quarter, up from 26.9m in the same period last year. It was also a rise from the third financial quarter, when 31.2m of the devices were sold - but could not match the 37.4m sold in the second quarter, between January and March.

The latest results include the first few days that the newest iPhones, the iPhone 5c and 5s went on sale in September.

In the past quarter, Apple sold 14.1 million iPads, a slight rise from 14 million between July and September 2012. It sold 4.6 million Macs, down from 4.9 million in the same period last year.

The firm's quarterly profit of $7.5 billion (£4.3 billion) was down from $8.2 billion (£5 billion) in the same three months of 2012.

Quarterly revenue was $37.5 billion (£23.3 billion), up from the same time last year when Apple announced revenue of $36 billion (£22.3 billion). International sales made up 60% of revenue for this quarter according to the California-based company.

The results come days after Apple announced the launch of the thinner and lighter iPad Air and a revamped iPad Mini, both of which go on sale in November.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said:

"We're pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones.

"We're excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS."

In a conference call to investors, analysts and journalists after announcing the results, Cook said he saw "significant opportunities" in new product categories, as well as across the current Apple spectrum.

He did not give further details but said that Apple's skills in hardware, software and services were "very, very unique".

"I think no one has a set of skills like this," added Cook. "And we obviously believe we can use our skills in building other great products that are in categories where we don't currently participate today, and we're pretty confident on that."

Apple is predicting revenue of between $55 billion (£34 billion) and $58 billion (£36 billion) in the first quarter of 2014.

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