It seems not even the impending release of a new iPhone can slow down sales of Apple's most popular product.
In spite of slightly missing analyst estimates, Apple posted a strong fiscal third quarter, generating $7.75 billion in profits due to strong iPhone sales.
According to the company's third quarter earnings report, it sold 35.2 million iPhones between April and June this year. The figure represents a 13 percent jump in iPhone sales from the same period last year. In spite of the uptick in iPhone sales (which is in contrast with the weaker smartphone sales recently posted by rival companies such as Samsung), Apple's numbers disappointed market analysts, who predicted that the company would sell 36 million smartphones during the period.
In spite of falling short of analyst expectations, the company exhibited growth all around. Revenue rose to $37.43 billion from $35.32 billion during the same period last year. The company also slightly beat estimates in terms of earnings per share at $1.28. Experts predicted that company would generate $1.23.
Apple also reported stronger sales for Macs, which is due to the introduction of cheaper iMacs and Macbook Airs. The company posted a 17.6 percent increase in Mac sales during the period. It sold 4.4. million units, up from the 3.8 million units that were sold during the same period last year.
"Our record June quarter revenue was fueled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving out highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters... We are incredibly excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, as well as other new products and services that we can't wait to introduce," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The only letdown in Apple's third quarter performance was its iPad sales. The company sold 13.28 million units of the device during the period. This represents a 9.2 percent drop compared to the 14.6 million iPads that the company sold during the same period last year. Analysts expected the company to sell 14.4 million during the quarter. The company's weak sales is said to be due to competition from cheaper tablets from Samsung, Google and Amazon and people's reluctance to part with their older tablets.
