Apple defies predictions by setting sales records in 4Q

Apple has defied Wall Street predictions by posting record earnings in last year`s fourth quarter thanks to booming sales of the iPhone and iPad.

Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones just six months after the smartphone`s release in June 2007. Sales, however, grew from 7.47 million units in 2008 to 25.11 million in 2009, 47.49 million units in 2010, and 93.1 million last year, far ahead of the cumulative sales over the previous four years.

Apple reported Tuesday record earnings in the fourth quarter last year (first quarter of fiscal 2012). As expected, the iPhone was the star with sales of 37.04 million units. That helped the company`s combined sales jump 73 percent to 46.33 billion U.S. dollars, with net profit skyrocketing 118 percent to 13.06 billion dollars. iPad sales climbed 111 percent to 15.34 million units and Mac computers also showed solid growth.

The results blew away Wall Street’s predictions, with analysts saying Apple has set a new bar for the industry. Apple’s stock price jumped 7.3 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday to 451.80 dollars per share. Analysts expect Apple’s stock to soon surpass 500 dollars to retain its title as the world’s largest company by market capitalization, outpacing the previous leader Exxon Mobil.

Others expect Apple to have surpassed Samsung Electronics as the world’s largest smartphone maker. Samsung sold an estimated 35 million to 37 million units in the fourth quarter last year, though official figures have yet to be announced.

Samsung was the world’s top smartphone seller in last year’s third quarter with 27.80 million units, surpassing Apple’s 17.07 million. With fans waiting for the new iPhone 4S to be released in the fourth quarter, Apple’s sales slowed in the third quarter.

Last year’s fourth quarter was the first quarter since Tim Cook officially took over in August as Apple after replacing Steve Jobs. Analysts say Apple’s record-breaking earnings demonstrate that Cook successfully overcame risks as the new CEO.

A case in point is Apple’s net profit outpacing Google’s sales of 10.58 billion dollars in last year’s fourth quarter. In quoting market research company Gartner, Forbes magazine said Apple emerged as the biggest buyer of semiconductors last year, ahead of Samsung and Hewlett-Packard.

In a conference call with institutional investors after the earnings announcement, Cook hinted at plans for the TV business. He said TV is still considered a "hobby" by Apple compared to its top-selling iPhone and iPad, but added “We continue to add things to it.”

In an interview with biographer Walter Isaacson, the late Jobs said he found ways to innovate TVs. The world electronics industry is awaiting when Apple will roll out TVs into the market.

sanhkim@donga.com witness@donga.com