14 DAY TRIAL // In case you were wondering how Apple's fiscal 2008 is shaping up, Q1 to be precise, the company has issued a report announcing the financial results for the respective time frame. Apple's Q1 2008 (ending December 29, 2007) has seen the best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history: revenue - $9.6 billion; net quarterly profit - $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share. Comparing to the year-ago quarter, gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 31.2 percent.
According to the same report, these results compare to revenue of $7.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $1 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. And what made this possible? - some may ask. Well, Macs, iPods and the elusive iPhone ,of course. Let's break it down:
Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macintosh computers, representing 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Sold iPods count as many as 22,121,000 units during Q1, representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. As for the multimedia and Internet-enabled iPhone, it sold as many as 2,315,000 units.
"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks."
Needless to say, Apple's products sound like a better choice for the electronics consumer with the passing of each day. Earlier this month, Steve Jobs' keynote at the Macworld Conference & Expo saw the introduction of the MacBook Air, dubbed "The World's Thinnest Notebook." Although its features aren't exactly mind-blowing, the Book does show off a 0.16 inches silhouette, at its thinnest point.
Just yesterday, Apple revealed its new pink iPod nano, already available in an 8GB form, at $199, with more announcements on the way.