Apple banks record earnings on 18.65M iPhone sales

Apple Inc. (AAPL) just recorded another standout quarter for earnings and growth, selling a record 18.65 million iPhones and 4.69 million iPads. iOS devices continue to drive the company’s success with 189 million cumulative iOS devices sold at the end of the its recently closed second quarter.
The Cupertino giant pulled in a net profit of $5.99 billion on $24.67 billion in revenue, up considerably from the year-ago period when Apple made $3.07 billion on $13.5 billion in revenue. The latest results got within reach of doubling on both ends in the past 12 months. iPhone sales were up 113% year over year.
“With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we’re firing on all cylinders,” CEO Steve Jobs said in a prepared statement. “We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.”
During the earnings call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said it was the highest marked quarter of growth in Apple’s history in which it also set a new record for iPhone sales. iPhone and related accessory sales accounted for $12.3 billion in revenue, nearly half of Apple’s revenue overall.
iPhone sales in the Americas and Asia-Pacific markets doubled year over year, according to Apple. It ended the quarter with iPhone distribution on 186 carriers in 90 countries. The company hit another billion marker — $2 billion has been paid out to developers since the opening of the App Store.
The enterprise picture for iOS devices continues to be strong as well. The majority of all CIOs, CTOs and IT managers at Fortune 500 companies are now testing or deploying iPhones and iPads. “We are seeing great scale of iPhone deployment in businesses worldwide,” COO Tim Cook said during the earnings call.
“Demand on iPad 2 has been staggering” and the company is still “heavily backlogged,” he said, however he offered little to suggest that supply could reach demand within the company’s targets anytime soon.
Cook conveyed the company’s sadness about the ongoing tragedy in Japan, a country where Apple sources hundreds of components for its gear. “This is an incredible tragedy and our hearts go out to everyone involved,” he said. “We’re very, very saddened by the situation.”
As for that LTE iPhone, Cook echoed his earlier comments: “The first generation of LTE chipsets force a lot of design compromises with the handset and some of those we are just not willing to make.”
And finally, regarding Jobs who remains on medical leave, Cook said: “He continues to be involved in making strategic decisions and I know he wants to be back as soon as he can.”