Apple Conference Call Highlights
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday. Shares of the company are up 3 percent.
Below are some key highlights from its conference call.
iPhone 6:
• Just last month we launched the biggest advancements in iPhone history with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
• These iPhones are the best we have ever created and customers absolutely love them.
• Our operational team has done an extraordinary job executing the manufacturing ramp throughout the entire supply chain.
• To date, we've launched in 32 countries including China and our new iPhones will be shipping in 69.
• Demand for the new iPhone has been staggering, and geographically broad-based, markedly higher in every single country.
• Demand for iPhone was strong across all geographies with global unit sell-through growth of 26%
• We sold 39.3 million iPhones, an increase of 5.5 million over last year, or 16% growth.
• IPhone sales grew across both developed and emerging markets. Unit sales in the U.S. grew 17% year over year, and in Western Europe they were up 20%.
• Middle East, with sales up more than 50%
• IDC indicates that iPhone has 69% share of the U.S. commercial smartphone market.
Apple Pay:
• Apple Pay, an entirely new way to pay for things in stores and in apps.
• It makes mobile payments easier, more secure, and more private.
• Paying within apps is as easy as selecting Apple Pay and placing your finger on Touch ID.
• Today, Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major three payment networks and the top U.S. banks.
• Over 500 additional banks have signed on and will be supporting Apple Pay beginning this year and early next year.
• Apple Pay is being supported by many of the nation's top retailers and we continue to sign more retailers.
Apple Watch:
• Apple Watch, our most personal device ever and one that has already captured the world's imagination.
• We can't wait to get Apple Watch to customers beginning in early calendar 2015.
• We'll be providing more details on Apple Watch as we get closer to the shipment day.
Mac and iPad:
• We sold 5.5 million Macs, an increase of almost 1 million over last year.
• That represents 21% growth year over year and an all-time quarterly record.
• Turning to iPad, we sold 12.3 million units compared to 14.1 million in the September quarter last year.
• IPad mini with Retina display earned an incredible 100% satisfaction rate.
• IPad continues to lead the U.S. education tablet market with 90% share
Results:
• We generated our strongest revenue growth rate in seven quarters, far surpassing our expectations we communicated in July.
• We generated record revenue of $42.1 billion, an increase of $4.7 billion or 12% year over year.
• We're also reporting gross margin of 38% compared to 37% last year, leading to a very strong EPS growth of 20%.
• Fueled by the launch of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and strong demand for our previous iPhone models, we set a new September quarter record for iPhone with revenue growth of 21% year-over-year.
• Cash flow from operations was very strong at $13.3 billion, also a new Q4 record.
• Our retail stores also generated strong results. Revenue for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 15% from a year ago
• We established an all-time quarterly record for Mac sales with revenue growing 18% year-over-year.
• We also set an all-time record for the App Store revenue thanks to the tremendous momentum and ongoing success of our developer community.
• App Store revenue grew 36% over last year and cumulative app downloads have now topped 85 billion.
• Over the last four quarters, our products and services have generated $183 billion in revenues, an increase of $12 billion.
• We sold 243 million iOS devices and 19 million Macs, both all-time highs.
• Our revenue from iTunes Software and Services reached $18 billion
• Generated $6.45 in earnings per share, which is 14% higher than last year and also set a new record.
• We have 437 Apple retail stores in 15 countries, and our partners are selling Apple products in hundreds of thousands of locations.
• Continuing to invest in developing markets where revenues approached $50 billion in fiscal year 2014, up 16%.
• We've executed aggressively against our share repurchase programs, spending $17 billion in the September quarter alone, and $45 billion in the last year.
• We ended the quarter with $155.2 billion in cash plus marketable securities, a sequential decline of $9.3 billion.
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