iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008
News Category: Apple

Reporting its second quarter financial results today, Apple said it sold 10.6 million iPods during the quarter—on par with most analyst predictions, and pushing the total number of iPods sold to just over 152 million. Despite Apple’s dramatic iPod shuffle price drop during the quarter, which saw the iPod family for the first time become accessible at the $49 price point, iPod sales were almost flat compared to the year-ago quarter, with only 1% growth in unit sales, and 8% growth in revenues. It also sold 1.7 million iPhones in the quarter, bringing the total number of units sold up to 5.4 million as of March 31, a number that is likely over 6 million by now.

The company posted revenue of $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per diluted share, compared with revenue of $5.26 billion and net quarterly profit of $770 million, or $.87 per diluted share in Q2 2007. Sales of Other Music Related Products + Services were up 35% over the year-ago quarter and 9% over the first quarter of 2008, to $881 million total. That category includes iTunes Store sales, iPod services, and revenues from Apple and third-party iPod accessories. Total iPhone revenue, including carrier agreements and all iPhone accessories from Apple and third parties, was $412m, up 57% over the preceding quarter despite a 26% drop in unit sales.

“We’re delighted to report 43 percent revenue growth and the strongest March quarter revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With over $17 billion in revenue for the first half of our fiscal year, we have strong momentum to launch some terrific new products in the coming quarters.”

“We’re thrilled to have generated $4 billion in cash flow from operations in the first half of fiscal 2008, yielding an ending cash balance of $19.4 billion,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the third quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $7.2 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00.”