Apple sells 48.04 million iPhones in fiscal Q4, falling just short of estimates

Apple has just released its fiscal fourth quarter earnings report, and the number that everyone was waiting for was 48.04 million. That is the number of iPhone units that the company sold in the quarter. While higher than the 39.27 million iPhones sold in the same period last year, the number fell short of the 48.72 million units that Wall Street was looking for. Apple might get a pass on this however, because its new models, the Apple iPhone 6s and Apple iPhone 6s Plus, were sold for only two business days during the period.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said that 30% of iPhone buyers this past quarter were replacing an Android powered handset. Cook says that this is the highest rate of Android users who have switched to an iPhone. The current quarter could be tough for Apple, since it goes up against the record 74.5 million iPhones it sold during last year's fiscal first quarter. But the executive notes that two-thirds of iPhone users are still sporting iPhone models with a screen smaller than the 4.7-inches first offered with the Apple iPhone 6 last year, allowing Cook to predict that iPhone sales will be higher in the current quarter than last year's tremendous number.

The iPhone is also doing extremely well in China. For the fiscal fourth quarter, Apple iPhone sales in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan rose 99% year-over-year to 12.5 billion, although on a sequential basis they were lower than what was rung up during the fiscal third quarter. That quarter was a bad one for the Chinese smartphone market in general.

Once again, the Apple iPad had a tough quarter with unit sales down 20%. The 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro will be launched early next month, although recent reports say that Apple is being very cautious with its expectations for the product. Overall, Apple reported net profits of $11.12 billion, up from $8.47 billion last year. That is a 31% increase. Per share, earnings rose 38% to $1.96 from $1.42, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.88. The percentage increase was higher due to Apple's share buyback program. Revenue for the quarter was $51.50 billion, up 22% from last year's $42.12.

After the report was released, Apple's shares rose 1.02% to $115.72. During regular trading hours, Apple's stock closed at $114.55, down 73 cents for the day.

source: MarketWatch