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$1.23 Billion Profit Highlights Apple’s Q3 2009

Apple reported “record non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings” for the third quarter of its fiscal 2009, boasting a profit of $1.23 billion on revenue of $8.34 billion, or $1.35 per diluted share. (Those numbers compare to a profit of $1.07 billion on revenue of $7.64 billion in the year-ago quarter.) The results were bolstered by strong sales of laptops, iPhones, and the iPod touch, even as sales of traditional iPod models declined. (For accounting purposes, Apple’s year ends 27-Sep-09.)

Apple sold 2.6 million Macs, up from 2.2 million in the second quarter of 2009. The company doesn’t report sales by model type, but in its quarterly earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said that portables are now two-thirds of all Mac sales. The entire MacBook lineup was refreshed in June, which accelerated sales according to Oppenheimer (see “Apple Refreshes MacBook Line at WWDC,” 2009-06-08).

The iPhone, not surprisingly, was a strong performer. Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones during the quarter, though Apple didn’t reveal how that number breaks down into iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS sales. However, Oppenheimer said that the company can’t yet make iPhone 3GS units fast enough to fulfill demand. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook also noted that almost 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased 10,000 or more iPhones, while some large corporations and government organizations have bought more than 25,000 units each.

Because Apple accounts for iPhone (and Apple TV) revenue over the course of the devices’ estimated lives, the revenue figures don’t include all money from actual sales. The non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) results – money actually coming in – shows a $1.94 billion profit on revenue of $9.74 billion. It’s also worth noting that Apple didn’t recognize iPhone revenue between 17-Mar-09 (when the iPhone OS 3.0 was announced) and 17-Jun-09 (when the software was released).

The iPod touch was particularly popular during the quarter, growing 134 percent over last year. However, the gains were offset by declining sales of other iPod models, leading to overall sales of 10.2 million iPods, a 7 percent decline from the previous year’s quarter. The company expects iPod touch sales to increase in the fourth quarter, an indication that the device will be updated (iPods have traditionally seen updates in that time period).

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