Apple Reports Q4 Earnings, $8.2 Billion Profit

It’s that time of year again, where Apple announces their quarterly earnings, and Wall Street flips out a little because they didn’t know how the company would do. Also, we can usually get a few choice out of Tim Cook at these things!

Firstly, the dry stuff, the actual earnings. Apple pulled in $36 billion in revenue, $8.2 billion in profit this quarter. That’s up from last year, which was revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion. Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones (up 58%), 14 million iPads (up 26%), 4.9 million Macs (up 1%), and 5.3 million iPods (down 19%).

With that out of the way, what other interesting things came out of the conference call that came with the earnings?

For one, Cook reiterated that Apple would not make a 7-inch tablet (though 7.9 inches is obviously fine). He said:

The comments that I think you’re referencing are comments that Steve had made before about seven inch tablets. And, let me be clear, we would not make one of the seven inch tablets. We don’t think they’re good products, and we would never make one. Not just because it’s seven inches, but for many reasons. One of the reasons, however, is size.

…

I’m not sure if you saw our keynote, but the difference between just the real estate size between the 7.9… versus 7 is 35 percent. And when you look at the usable area it’s much greater than that… The iPad mini is a fantastic product. It is not a compromised product like the seven inch tablets. It’s in a whole different league.

He also stated that Apple had sold 5 million AppleTVs, up 2.8 million from last year, and called it a “beloved hobby.” He commented that the iPad mini is priced aggressively, and that margins are smaller than normal; and took time to slam the Microsoft Surface, calling it “car that flies and floats.” 

Also, they’re working on Maps, trying to get it better.

Naturally, Wall Street did what Wall Street does, especially as the iPad missed estimates somewhat. Apple missed the Street’s expectations, and so shares are down in after hours trading.