The iPhone 5S and 5C, which came out last month, have given Apple a boost, but the smart phone giant has seen lackluster performance for three consecutive quarters.
Apple reported Monday a profit of $7.5 billion for the fourth fiscal quarter, on revenue of $37.5 billion. The earnings are down $8.2 billion on $36 billion in revenue during the same period last year.
Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones — up 26 percent year over year. However, gross margins for this quarter fell to 37 percent from 40 percent a year earlier, which has disappointed investors.
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But the numbers still beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations, who estimated earnings of $7.93 a share and revenue of $36.84 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Reuters.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has seen promise with its new models, though. The 5S accounts for 3.8 percent of all iPhone activations across the world. The 5C model makes up 1.7 percent, mobile analytics firm Localytics said on Monday. The iPhone 5 is on top with almost 40 percent of all iPhone activations, but it's had more than a year to catch on,
according to CNet.
Despite that sales for the two new devices have grown impressively in one month, sales for iPads and Macs are down since this time last year, which has made investors concerned as the holiday season approaches.
“Those are really good numbers obviously,”
Tero Kuittinen, an independent technology analyst for Alekstra, told the New York Times. “But I think the tablet problem is undermining them.”
Apple sold 14.1 million iPads over the quarter, up slightly from 14 million in the quarter a year ago. That is far from the pace of the market: manufacturers are expected to ship 184.4 million tablets in 2013, up from 120 million last year, the New York Times reported.
Apple unveiled two new iPads, the iPad Mini and the iPad Air, and a new Mac at its September event. The company is confident iPads will have a strong holiday season.
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“It’s going to be an iPad Christmas,” Timothy Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said during an earnings call.
Shares in the company were flat in after-hours trading.
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