“AT&T announced record quarterly smartphone sales on Thursday,” James O’Toole reports for CNNMoney.
“The company sold 10.2 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, which it said was the most ever for a U.S. carrier,” O’Toole reports. “Ma Bell activated a record 8.6 million iPhones… The news comes on a day when Apple shares sold off sharply, sinking 12% following the release of the company’s quarterly results Wednesday afternoon.”
O’Toole reports, “AT&T’s overall fourth-quarter smartphone sales topped the previous record of 9.4 million from the fourth quarter of 2011. AT&T did not break down iPhone activations by model in its press release. But the company noted that its wireless operating margins took a hit in the fourth quarter, a possible sign that it sold a large number of newer iPhone 5s as well as older iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 models. AT&T rival Verizon said Tuesday that it sold a record 6.2 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, making up two thirds of its total smartphone sales.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Pathik Desai” for the heads up.]
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Apple iPhones accounted for 6.2 million of 9.8 smartphone sales activated by Verizon in Q412 – January 22, 2013
Apple iPhone continues lead with 51.2% U.S. market share as Android users increasingly switch to iPhone – January 22, 2013
Raymond James analyst: Apple iPhone outsold Samsung 1.7 to 1 over the last 10 quarters – January 17, 2013
Record sales all round and aapl Stock drops, really? The Devil must be Laughing his ass off at the mess he made. High Numbers, Profits, Precedented Demand, Stock flying off Shelves, Products sold before being touching ground. Makes Absolutely no Sense at Stock price dropping. MS is dying. I need to hit myself on the head with a hammer to wake myself up from this dream or what?
+1
Except shouldn’t that be unprecedented demand?
Or “precedented only for Apple’s goods”. ;))
Yes, this is nuts. Apple’s Total Market Cap is at $415 billion and their files Total Assets is $196 billion. We are hitting twice the book value of the company now!!! Hello, Tim and the board. Start buying AAPL or GO HOME and let someone else do the job for Apple and it’s investors. If Apple will not buy a billion dollars a day to stop this shit, no one else will. They are making money killing Apple’s stock.
DO JOUR JOB BOYS AND GIRLS OR GO HOME!
10 million iPhones…. but but but apple shares.. shortages… Apple cut iPhone 5 screen supplies… but I have no other scam to look apple bad after all MATH pits apple STILL THE BEST TECH COMPANY IN THE WORLD.. PERIOD, math doesn’t LIE, ANALys DO LIE.
So…
For the top two US carriers, iPhones outsold all other smartphone brands combined.
Only Exxon has had a more profitable quarter in history.
Too bad the US market is just a backwater.
“The company sold 10.2 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, which it said was the most ever for a U.S. carrier,” O’Toole reports. “Ma Bell activated a record 8.6 million iPhones…”
So 10.2 million smartphones minus 8.6 million iPhones leaves 1.6 million “other” smartphones sold. Really? REALLY???!!!!
Then WTF is going on with the stock price then?!!!
Presumably, this is because profits per week YoY only grew 7% (formally profits were flat, but this time quarter was shorter, so it translates to 7% growth), which is too small for Wall Street.
HOWEVER: about year ago, Apple experienced couple of quarters that had significantly better gross margins — middle-to-late 40% — than average, which is about late 30%/early 40%.
Now that Apple returned back to its more regular gross margins, they prognose $8.75 billion profits for Q2 (calendar Q1) comparing to $11.6 billion year before — despite last year’s revenue was a bit weaker: $39 billion.
So investors have to deal with this prognosis, which promises that profits will fall in Q1 (calendar Q2) for the first time. Even in better scenario, offered by Apple for this quarter, they will have $9.7 billion profits, which is still lower than profits year ago. Apple might top last year’s profits only if they will have $50 billion sales, not $$41-43 billion, or even $45 billion.
For such revenue, Appe has to show sales 27% sales grow YoY. Considering that Apple showed exactly such growth in its Q1 (calendar 2012Q4), this should not be impossible, but Apple’s prognosis tells that revenue growth only projected to be 5%-10%. Even if the top range from Apple’s prognosis, $43 billion, is couple of billions less what they will actually have, then still this would only make 15% growth, far from 27% needed to top net profit from year ago at current margin levels.
Sorry, too much of bold, error in the code.
There certainly seems to be a disconnect with reality and Wall Street herd terds.
Hmmm. So iPhones made up 84% of AT&T smartphone sales and 66% of Verizon’s smartphone sales. So what happened to Samsung’s US sales then?
In the meantime Apple is moving its business away from Samsung as fast as they can.
Perhaps the share price issue is actually being driven behind the scenes by Google, who must be deeply worried about their increasing loss of advertising revenue. Spreading FUD about a dangerous competitor is an age-old US corporate trick – IBM sales training used to incorporate this as a competitive selling strategy: create Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt about your competitor.
Jubei nailed it (see below). It’s goons.
Say I’m a hack writer for a second-tier tech blog, and a guy in a fedora offers me ten grand in an envelope to publish a hit piece based on fabricated reports. I’ll do it because I’m worried about the next mortgage payment or the car loan, and I justify it through my envy and annoyance at companies that are breaking the bank but won’t slip me any of it, and besides I’m not really hurting anyone I care about.
Multiply by several dozen, and we have a sleazy, thinly disguised stealth campaign that, through the magic of the Internet, takes on a life of its own.
Watch out AT&T! That might make your stock fall!
All these positive facts and WS craps on Apple stock. LOL… It’s obvious what these goons are up to and who is pulling the strings. Or should we say, groups pulling the strings.
It’s goons.
Apple is doomed!
Doomed I say!
Now they are dragging poor innocent AT&T down with them.
When will this madness end.
It will only end when 1 Infinite Loop is a smouldering crater and Apple Campus 2 is a ruined mass of twisted metal and melted glass.
Thus is the shroud drawn over the golden age of innovation, and at last the surly Vandals and Visigoths emerge from abeyance to subjugate a cowering populace and restore the natural order, feudalism. The oxcart’s wheel does not require improvement, and anyway we killed all the inventors.
Hopefully the Apple Campus 2 will be able to float and move around like a V spaceship. I’d suggest just dumping it down south in the Indian Ocean and declaring itself it’s own country. Just attach a Johnson outboard motor to it to avoid meteorites and nuclear attacks.
That 89% iphone retention rate along with future growth is gonna sting samsung right in the a$$ and pay shareholders far into the future.
“How ya gonna keep ’em down on the farm
After they’ve seen Paree”
85% of all smartphones on ATT are iPhones. That is just amazing. Go Apple! Onwards and upwards to 90% in the next quarter!