Apple Inc. has reported record fiscal fourth quarter 2011 and first quarter 2012 earnings today. For the last quarter, the company has posted revenue of $46.33 billion and net profit of $13.06 billion, compared to the revenue of $26.7 billion (net profit of $6 billion) in the year-ago period. The company’s gross margin last quarter was 44.7 percent, compared to 38.5 percent of the same period last year.
For the first time ever, Apple has surpassed Hewlett Packard (HP) in both revenue and computer unit sales. It has been revealed that Apple sold more iPad tablets than the worldwide PC sales of HP.
When asked by an analyst during the earnings call, Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook noted that they have sold a record-breaking 15.4 billion iPads and that the company does not consider tablets that have limited functions and e-readers to be in the same league as the iPad. Cook believes that the reason why the iPad is such a huge success is that its ecosystem is “in a class by itself.”
“We strongly believe in optimizing applications from day one to take advantage of the larger canvas,” said Cook. “There are only a few hundred apps designed for the competition, versus more than 170,000 apps designed specifically for iPad. People who want an iPad won’t settle for a limited function tablet.”
Cook added that Apple will “continue to innovate like crazy” and that it will continue to compete with existing and new players, who, in the future, may enter the market.
via: Slash Gear
