“Apple announced its Q3 FY2012 results on July 24, exceeding its own guidance but falling short of the market’s rather bullish estimates,” Trefis Team writes for Forbes. “Nevertheless, the quarter was the company’s third best in its history, coming on the back of two of its best quarters ever.”
“Revenues from iPhone sales were up 22% y-o-y but declined almost 30% sequentially due to softness in demand for the higher-margin iPhone 4S as well as seasonality in China following the very successful launch of the same last quarter,” Trefis writes. “iPad sales surprised on the positive with unit sales exceeding 17 million and besting the previous record of 15 million in Q4 2011. However, a deteriorating product mix took a toll on gross margins which fell by over 450 basis points sequentially.”
Trefis writes, “Looking ahead, the company expects to see margins contract further in the next quarter as customers hold off on purchasing an iPhone in anticipation of the release of the iPhone 5 next quarter. However, as was seen last year, customers that held off purchasing an iPhone didn’t necessarily buy a competing product but waited until the launch of the iPhone 4S. Apple’s results last year were back-weighted with almost 40% of iPhone sales coming in Q4 CY2011 alone… Apple talked about a ‘fall transition’ impacting margins in the coming quarter; so the iPhone 5 launch will most likely be scheduled towards the end of Q4 or early Q1. We expect the huge pent-up demand to help Apple more than offset the current loss of sales with a very strong holiday quarter, a la last year.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
This is all boring stuff now. Johnny come lately. Tell us something new instead of warmed over bullshit by lazy ass journalists trying to meet their Master of the Obvious deadlines. This guy should be a trash hauler.
Everyone should expect LOTS of great and supportive comments about Apple and its potential future growth and the anticipation of surging stock price AFTER 16 August 2012.
I certainly hope so. Today, Apple shareholders are missing out on a nice market boost. Apple’s quarter wasn’t really that bad but shareholders got totally shafted by the brilliant Wall Street analysts. Apple looks to be swimming upstream into a raging rapid of a poor economy and I don’t see how it can possibly manage to make any headway when Wall Street’s expectations continue to grow.
This constant bitching about analysts is getting tiresome. I believe very few of you who think that is Apple’s stock problem either are very new to investing or do not invest at all. Apple stock did not go down because analysts said it was going to report highe sales and revenue. Hell that is what drove the price up before the bad result. Had yhe analysts predicted poor results you same critics would have been all over them for that. Real investors trade based on results, not some pie in the sky guesses. AAPL sold off because the trend is downward. The number one product, the iPhone, is off nearly a third for the quarter. Do you think it will be up this quarter? Only a fool would bet money that Apple’s next quarter… Remember no new iPhone until the quarter after that…. will show a gain in phone sales. I am predicting iPhone sales for this quarter will be flat or further decline. I am holding my shares because I expect some recovery once the iPhone 5 and hopefully a minipad will be successful.
C Joe,
Not too sure you know how things work today, either.
Apple had a great quarter, up more than guidance. Just not up as much as Wall Street anal…..yst thought. You know Wall Street and the big banks, the ones that lose BILLIONS on a regular basis…
ANd if you are stuck in such numbers as market share, like many anal……ysts, then the fact that Apple makes more profit than the rest of the smartphone industry combined may have slipped you.
One last note… When Apple blows away the street estimates, they usually drop then too…. No the company is doing great, everyone else in the world is copying their “ultra books” their “tablets” their cell phones… The horse in the lead is usually considered the winner.
Just saying…
You are so wrong. It is the market manipulating analyst. Apple is doing just fine. You seem to be unaware that Apple makes more than a iPhone and iPad.