“Apple Inc. surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts for its usually tepid second quarter, delivering an 88 percent increase in profit on strong sales of Macintosh computers and iPod music players,” Laurie J. Flynn reports for The New York Times.
“The company said on Wednesday that its profit rose to $770 million from $410 million in the comparable quarter last year. Apple sold 1.5 million Macs in the quarter, a record for the company [for fiscal 2nd quarter],” Flynn reports.
“In an interview, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, called the quarter a ‘blowout,’ and noted that the strong sales and market share gains came even though the company had not made any major upgrades to its lines of portable and desktop computers,” Flynn reports.
“Apple’s strength was particularly notable in that it came during the quarter in which Microsoft finally released the long-awaited Vista version of its Windows operating system, an event that the PC industry was counting on to spur a wave of computer upgrades,” Flynn reports. “Mr. Jobs noted that Dell had recently returned an earlier version of Windows to its product line, which he said was an indication that demand for Vista had not been overwhelming.”
‘“They’re defying the laws of gravity when it comes to profitability,” said Eugene A. Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray,” Flynn reports. “Mr. Munster said the appeal of the Macintosh was clearly expanding beyond its traditional niche. ‘There’s a global shift in how people see personal computers — for entertainment, creativity and good looks,’ Mr. Munster said. ‘Apple has found that sweet spot, and with almost no competition.’”
“Apple said Mac sales accounted for 56 percent of revenue during the second quarter, with music-related products, including iPods and iTunes sales accounting for the other 44 percent,” Flynn reports.
Full article here.
The full article requires one to sign in to the NY Times site.
Peace.
cool……
Steve Jobs said that they had not had any major upgrades to Mac computers in quite a while. If Jobs says it, an update may be coming very soon. You think?
i’m one of the ones adding to the switcher list, couldn’t wait any longer, and i’ve been pleased with every minute of it.
Namaste
“Apple has found that sweet spot, and with almost no competition.”
Almost??
“……..Apple has found that sweet spot, and with almost no competition…….”
That happened after Gil Amelio and the beige – boxes .. It’s just taken the “anal-ysts” this long to notice !
@Lurker_PC: “The full article requires one to sign in to the NY Times site.”
http://www.bugmenot.com/
The full article requires one to sign in to the NY Times site.
It is a free subscription. If you don’t want to sign up, you can probably find an account to use on one of those websites dedicated to sharing logins for such sites.
“…i’m one of the ones adding to the switcher list, couldn’t wait any longer, and i’ve been pleased with every minute of it…..”
Welcome to the fold, pyeman .. I think you’ll enjoy computing without the hassles you left behind ! ..
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Despite some of the rants by certain individuals .. Here (at MDN ) is a good place to hang out !!
Looking foreward to hear about your transition from the Dark Side
Dearest Michael;
It is with the sincerest amount of affection as well as the greatest appreciation and admiration for a technology industry peer that I want t-
Hey, waitaminute! You’re not my peer. So in that case . . .
SCREW!!!
Sincerely,
Steven P. Jobs
The Mac is back, representing 56% of revenue. That is good for those of us who believe in the future of the Mac. Let’s talk Leopard now.
Listen, can we talk once again ?
What will it take for you to liscence OSX to me ?
Vista sucks, and who wants XP ?
Get back to me when you can
Sincerely
Michael Dell
For future reference, spelling the word license correctly will look better on your memos.
-SJ
“For future reference, spelling the word license correctly will look better on your memos.
-SJ”
Thank you teacher, I learn so much just by being in your presence !
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Besides, you must know how well this Microsoft Spell Check works !
Boom!!
I bet Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. wish they had the profit margins that Apple enjoys!
Welcome to all the new switchers…
Shinobi
I blew out once.
I wrote that I blew out once.
Once.
OS X is the future, whether it’s on iPhone, AppleTV, Mac or any other breakthrough device Steve has in his skunkworks (iPad, anyone?)
“Apple said it ended the second quarter with $12.6 billion in cash.”
golly.
Dear Mr. Jobs,
But seriously, if ever I can do something for you, polish your shoes, take out your garbage etc etc please feel free to call me.
Kindest regards,
Mike
The percentage increase in profits is much higher than that of product sales.
There might be several reasons for this, and at a guess, one is the cheaper price of component parts.
But, contrary to what Apple says, I’m convinced that iTunes Store is also beginning to make BIG PROFITS.
Apple (S.J.) plays it down for tactical reasons …. all those negotiations with the music companies!
The reason the Mac Sales number is so good is that many Mac Users know new stuff is coming and are waiting, and sales were still good. The Santa Rosa chip set will probably be included in all upcoming Macs except the Mac Pro and Xserve. It is a big damned deal. Leopard is also a big damned deal and some will wait for that. Santa Rosa starts shipping next month. So Apple has to be preparing an announcement soon.
If they really want to kick off sales, Apple should give a coupon for Leopard, perhaps at the time that Leopard was going to ship — late June. And this quarter will reflect the new refreshed quad Mac Pro sales driven by Adobe CS3. Q2 showed the underlaying strength of Mac sales, but this quarter will really kick Mac sales into a new gear. That will be followed by the two seasonally strong Mac sales quarters. AAPL is at the knee of the coming breakthrough curve. It’s up, up and away – super AAPL!
@ Mike
>”please feel free to call me.”
Call you what ?