Apple Computer has posted second quarter earnings over 228% higher than the same period last year with net profits bounding from $14 million last year to $46 million, according to an official statement from Apple.
Apple shipped 749 000 Macintosh units and 807 000 iPods during the quarter, representing a 5% increase in CPU units and 909% increase in iPods over the same quarter last year.
"We are very pleased with our third straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth," says Fred Anderson, Apple`s CFO. "More importantly, our results demonstrate operating margin expansion. Our balance sheet remains very strong with about $4.6 billion in cash and no debt. Looking ahead to the third quarter of fiscal 2004, we expect our fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year double-digit growth in both revenue and earnings, with revenue of about $1,925 billion."
"We have also seen substantial growth in the South African market," says the Core Group`s RJ Van Spaandonk. "In the second quarter of 2004, hardware sales increased by 71% over the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2003, Apple`s hardware sales increased by 6%, then 33% in the second, 59% in the third and 56% in the fourth. In the first quarter of 2004, new unit sales increased by 61% and now second quarter results stand at a massive 71%," he says.
"When Apple first entered into the digital music player market with iPod only a few years ago, there were many who questioned the move," says Van Spaandonk.
"Apple has once again proved critics wrong. Consumers and business users want fast, secure and reliable computers and devices. Exciting products such as iPod, the 64-bit Power Mac G5, mobile iBook and PowerBook range, funky iMac and highly affordable eMac are driving interest and sales around the world. Of course, when you bolt the inherent reliability and security of Unix through OS X on top of an exciting range, you simply have winning solutions," he says.
"The iPod strategy is evidently paying off. It`s been widely debated that iPod as a unit serves to fuel interest in a wide range of Apple products rather than simply one-off digital music player sales. Consumers are evidently highly impressed with iPod and it`s quite easy to go back to them and demonstrate computer solutions. The consumer knows that iPod is awesome and understands that the same quality and reliability can be found in other Apple products," he says.
"We expect further growth this year as Apple releases iPod mini to international markets. Uptake of iPod mini has been so strong in the US that Apple has been forced to hold the release of the product to international markets until supply can meet demand. Some rumour sites have even suggested that iPod mini has been so successful in the US so far that Apple has snapped up almost the entire world market of the unit`s microdrives - 1GB drives which are small enough to enable Apple to design a unit which is not much bigger than a credit card," he says.
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