News: Mac & iPhone Help Apple’s Q3 Profits

Earlier today, Apple announced that third-quarter profits rose more than 30 percent to $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share, on sales of $7.46 billion for the three-month period ended June 30. This is slightly above the analysts’ projections of $7.37 billion for the quarter. Total profits rose 32 percent, while sales jumped 38 percent.

During the quarter, Apple shipped 2,496,000 Macs, representing 41 percent unit growth and 43 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. iPods came in at 11,011,000 shipped, representing 12 percent unit growth and seven percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The iPhone had a rather large leap, with 717,000 sold, compared to 270,000 in the year-ago-quarter.

Steve Jobs spoke positively about what his company had done:

“We’re proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple’s history. We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we’re busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months.”

One of these such things in the coming months is a transition of sorts in which Apple will cut back on its profit margins for a particular product to help increase sales. This was mentioned by Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s Chief Financial Officer. Many think it could either be the end of the current iPods, where every device is somehow based on the iPod Touch/iPhone platform, a cheaper Mac mini, or some consolidation in the MacBook family. All three are due for updates soon, and there is a bit of overlap. The iPods are the most likely target, we think, since the iPhone’s price dropped a lot, causing the iPod classic to look a bit overpriced.