Apple's best Sept. quarter

Apple on Monday reported its best September quarter in history, beating many analyst estimates as well as Wall Street consensus to send company shares soaring more than 2.3 percent after the market closed. Apple earned revenue of $6.22 billion with the help of more than 2.16 million Mac sales -- which broke the company's record for the most Mac sales in a September quarter by 400,000 units. Overall, Apple generated more than $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income during the fiscal year 2007. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer cited "record results" in his introductory comments, adding that this was the "highest September quarter revenue and earnings in Apple's history."

Apple once again found that over 50 percent of customers purchasing Macs in its retail stores were new to Mac systems, according to Oppenheimer. The company saw 34 percent growth in Mac sales over September of last year, ultimately exceeding the previous quarterly record for Mac shipments by 400,000.

Oppenheimer pointed to "record mac sales" and "continued strong demand for iPod" as he introduced Apple's fourth fiscal quarter results, noting that Mac products and services accounted for 62 percent of the company's total quarterly revenue. The CFO also revealed that Apple's global growth rate was more than double IDC's most recently published growth rate for the industry.

Consumers scooped up Apple's new iMacs in droves, helping to raise the company's year-over-year growth in desktop systems by 31 percent.

"We're looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple's best products ever," said company chief Steve Jobs.

by MacNN Staff