Jobs speaks on Q4 call

Apple on Tuesday released its third quarter financial results call as a stream on its website, surprising some with the presence of company CEO Steve Jobs, who even stuck around to answer some questions towards the end. Jobs expressed his excitement over a number of accomplishments; most notably that Apple has surpassed RIM in unit sales for the quarter, with over 6.9 million units shipped, versus 6.1 million shipped by RIM.

Jobs also highlighted that there are some upcoming "exciting business opportunities," which Apple would not comment on whether it was exploring additional buyouts to strengthen its abilities, such as the acquisition of PA Semi.

In terms of overall profitability, not units sold, Jobs also revealed that Apple is the third largest competitor in the mobile phone market, behind Nokia and Samsung, and ahead of both LG and Motorola.

Apple's retail markets also saw hefty revenue and unit sales, but the company declined to comment how many store openings were happening for fiscal 2009. Formerly, the Apple has been very open about its retail plans. Apple's retail stores pushed through a record 596,000 Macs, with again over half of customers new to the platform.

Overall, Jobs was very quiet when asked to embellish on matters, but did comment that the Apple TV would remain a "hobby" product.

by MacNN Staff