Earnings

Apple’s record-smashing Q1 2015 earnings: 74.5M iPhones, 21.4M iPads, $74.6B revenue

Apple has posted its [fiscal] first quarter earnings report for 2015 this afternoon and they are incredible. The company says it sold a staggering 74.5 million iPhones and recorded $74.6 billion in revenue during the holiday-driven 3-month period.

Both of the numbers beat even the most optimistic Wall Street estimates, and are all-time records for the company. To give you an idea of how big this is, Apple sold 51 million iPhones and earned $57.6 billion in the exact same quarter last year.

Following record Q4, TSMC migrates to finer 10nm tech and allegedly picks up A9X orders in 2015

Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Thursday announced record profits in the fourth quarter of 2014 buoyed by its lucrative chip-making deal with Apple for the new iPhones.

In addition, the firm announced migrating to a much finer 10-nanometer process technology this year after being among the first to adopt 20-nanometer chip-making technology in 2014.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, TSMC would not only pick up 100 percent of orders for Apple's “A9X” chip, which should be used in an iPad refresh this Fall, but also get to produce an “S2” processor for a second-generation Apple Watch and an “A10” chip that should power a 2016 iPhone model, likely to be called “iPhone 7”.

Apple announces new records for the App Store, New Years day was its best day ever

Apple on Thursday announced that the first week of January set a new record for billings from the App Store, with customers around the world spending nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases. It also revealed New Year’s Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history, as customers presumably used gift cards and took advantage of App Store sales.

Apple to announce Q1 2015 earnings on January 27

Apple just announced via its Investor Relations portal that it will be announcing the financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2015 on Tuesday, January 27. As usual, the company will be hosting a conference call to discuss its earnings, beginning at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET.

Apple expected to sell 71M iPhones during the holiday quarter

KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo issued a new report to investors today with some adjusted predictions for iPhone sales during the all-important holiday quarter. Buoyed by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the prominent Apple analyst sees the company selling 71.5 million during the 3-month period.

For some context, Apple sold 51 million iPhones during the year-ago holiday quarter. Kuo believes the iPhone 6 will be the leading cause for the dramatic jump, accounting for 41.6 million iPhone sales—nearly 60%. The 6 Plus, he says, is in a distant second due in large part to supply shortages.

15 interesting points from today’s earnings call

Apple announced its financial results for Q4 2014 this afternoon, and for the most part it beat the Street’s expectations. The company sold 39.3 million iPhones and pulled in $42.1 billion in revenue during the three month period, and iPad sales fell short at just 12.3 million.

We’re just finishing up the conference call, where Tim Cook, CFO Luca Maestri and other members of the executive team have discussed Apple’s performance, and offered some insight into its future. As usual, we’ve rounded up the to 15 most interesting points for you below.

Apple Q4 2014 earnings: 39.3M iPhones, 12.3M iPads, $42.1B revenue

Apple has posted its [fiscal] fourth quarter earnings report this afternoon, announcing that it has sold 39.3 million iPhones and 12.3 million iPads. The numbers are just about as expected, with iPhones coming in a little higher than anticipated, and iPads coming in quite a bit lower.

It's been a significant quarter for Apple in terms of announcements, as it unveiled two new iPhones, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. It's worth noting, however, that neither Apple Pay nor Watch were available in September, and the new iPhones were only on sale for the last 10 days.

Samsung warns of lower Q3 profits due to rising smartphone competition

On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics warned investors that earnings for its third quarter would be lower than market expectations. The company says it anticipates reporting an operating profit of $3.8 billion for the three-month period ending in September—a decline of nearly 60% year-over-year.

Samsung cites a few reasons for the drop off, including heightened competition in the smartphone market. While the tech giant is selling plenty of handsets, higher marketing costs, fewer shipments of high-end phones and lower average selling prices have negatively impacted operating margins.

Apple to announce fourth quarter earnings on October 20

Apple on Tuesday updated its Investor Relations webpage to confirm that it will be announcing its financial earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter (or third calendar quarter) of 2014 this month. The earnings statement will be released at 1:30 PM PST on October 20, with a conference call scheduled for 2 PM.

This earnings report will cover the three month period from July through September, giving us our first real glimpse at how Apple's new handsets are selling. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were unveiled at a media event this month, and launched in several countries on September 19 with record-breaking figures.

Samsung’s troubles prove Apple knows exactly what it’s doing with its iPhone business

Samsung's co-CEO and mobile chief J.K. Shin is in the hot seat as the company posts its third straight quarter of operating-profit declines.

It's fascinating to watch how quickly things are turning for the conglomerate responsible for nearly one-fifth of South Korea's Gross domestic product.

Operating profits were down sharply, decreasing a whopping 25 percent year over year. More importantly, Samsung's favorite business metric - the market share - is under pressure, too: its worldwide share of smartphones slipped to 25 percent in the second quarter from 32 percent a year earlier.

This is bad news considering that 76 percent of the firm's profit comes from smartphones. What gives?

iTunes software and services fastest growing part of Apple’s business this year

During Apple's Q3 earnings call this afternoon, Tim Cook praised the success of its iTunes software and services arm. The CEO said the division was the fastest-growing of the company's business in the first 9 months of its fiscal year 2014.

The segment generated $4.5 billion in revenue during the 3-month period, an increase of 12% YoY (or year over year). And Cook attributed the growth to a number of factors, including growing interest in China and strong App Store numbers...

Apple has acquired 5 companies since April, 29 in past nine months

One of the more interesting tidbits from today's earnings call was a revelation about Apple's recent acquisitions. Tim Cook said the company has purchased 5 companies since the end of the March quarter, and a total of 29 companies during the past 9 months.

Apparently these numbers do not include the Beats Electronics deal—Apple's largest acquisition to date—because it has not completely finalized yet, and isn't expected to until later this quarter. So who are the other companies? These are the ones we know about...