Apple has shocked the tech world, who have for weeks been claiming the iPhone is in decline and companies like Samsung and HTC are beginning to overtake the maker of the most popular smartphone, by posting earnings that were massive.
While iPhone sales were maintained, there was a growing concern that the iPad, which had been the company's fastest ever selling product, was on the decline.
Still, that did not stop the company from posting $45.6 billion in sales and an overall net profit of $10.2 billion, breaking by a couple billion the expected $43.5 billion in revenue analysts had predicted. The company has also increased its stock buyback option, now splitting the stock seven to one.
"We believe our current stock price does not reflect the size of the company," CEO Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts. "The buyback shows 'our strong confidence in the future of Apple.'"
The buyback program means that when it comes into effect on June 2, current holders will get an additional six shares that they can then offload to investors as a way of boosting the actual value in comparison with the company's size, says Cook.
Apple shares also saw a huge jump of seven percent to $566.07 in after-hours trading as the earnings report sparked market movement.
Although the company has been under near constant pressure from Korea's Samsung over the past few months, the earnings report was more than the previous year during the same period, which saw $43.6 billion in sales and $9.5 billion in profit.
"We're very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services," said Cook. "We're eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market."
But with Samsung and HTC climbing into what many analysts say is the driver's seat in the smartphone market as Android models are selling at an increasing pace, Apple believes that by launching a larger screen iPhone 6 later this year, it will return to the summit of smartphone technology.
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are continuing to do solid sales even though customers have historically shied away from Apple until the fall when the company has routinely released the latest iPhone to the public, which it is also expected to do this year.
While the iPhone continues to outperform its previous years, the iPad conundrum may need an overhaul, as Cook reports that in the first four years of its existence over 200 million tablets have been sold that leaves few untouched markets in the United States and other parts of the world without a new and innovative new tablet.
