Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Macintosh shipments soared 44 percent over the year-ago quarter to reach 2,319,000 units. Mac revenue was up slighly more at 47 percent.
The iPod side of the business showed more modest improvement, but there seems to have been a switch to more expensive models as unit sales rose just five percent to 22,121,000 but revenue was boosted by 17 percent.
2,315,000 iPhones were sold during the quarter, suggesting that Apple's target of shipping 10 million by the end of 2008 is within reach if the handset goes on sale in a few more countries during the coming months.
Other headline figures were $US9.6 billion revenue, $US1.58 billion net profit ($US1.76 per diluted share), and 34.7 percent gross margin - all up from the year-ago quarter.
Seasonal factors and presumably (though he wouldn't say as much) the current uncertainty in the US and other national economies led CFO Peter Oppenheimer to predict said "revenue of about $US6.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $US0.94."
That still represents substantial growth on the corresponding 2007 quarter, but it is lower than financial analysts have been predicting. This drove Apple shares down by 11 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement. The general malaise in share prices, together with possible speculation about the numbers Apple would report had already led to a 3.5 percent fall in the company's share price.
It is interesting to see that the list of "risks and uncertainties" attached to the earnings announcement - it's actually longer than the announcement itself! - specifically mentions "the Company's reliance on sole service providers for iPhone in the US, UK, Germany and France" as a factor that could affect future revenue and earnings. Hey guys, whose idea was it to have exclusive partners in each country?
David Bass
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