Responding to concerns that wireless carriers may reduce subsidies for the iPhone, thereby lowering Apple’s profit margin, Chief Executive Tim Cook said the subsidies aren’t large anyway, compared with what carriers can recoup from consumers over a 24-month contract period. “International iPhone sales were on fire,” Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told Reuters in an interview, adding that sales of the smartphone in the Greater China region jumped five-fold from the previous year. “That shows they are able to maintain their pricing without compromising on growth,” said Morningstar analyst Michael Holt.īut it was Apple’s flagship iPhone, which has helped revolutionize the smartphone industry, that hogged the spotlight on Tuesday. Some investors had feared intensifying competition from Google Inc’s Android phones - made by the likes of Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics - might pressure margins and eat into its market share. Margins blew past forecasts - helped by lower-than-expected commodity costs - while a five-fold iPhone sales surge in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong bolstered revenue in the region to $7.9 billion. While iPad sales were a little lighter than expected, the overall results sent the stock up 7 percent, recouping some losses from the past two weeks that had stemmed from concerns about weakening sales growth for iPhones.Īpple sold 35.1 million iPhones - which accounts for about half its revenue - in the March quarter, outpacing the 30 million or so expected by Wall Street analysts.
The company's logo is seen on the Apple store in Washington October 6, 2011.REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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