Apple Reports Record-Breaking Q3 2011: $7.31 Billion Profit on $28.57 Billion in Revenue

[Rocketman]

It's not just a wonderful balance sheet. It's not just a wildly successful corporation. It's not just a worldwide successful product with astounding penetration and reach and uptake. It's not just an ecosystem. It's not just a platform for developers, advertisers, users and business.

It is a social revolution. It is a way to take internet anywhere, but in a way that "just works", in every major language, in every major country, on every major network, in every political and social culture.

It is a quiet revolution. It is a paradigm shift.

It is nothing less than that.

It is a tool for fun, communication, information, cultural exchange and even political action.

That's what makes it interesting, not its "memory footprint".

 

[viperGTS]

Glad to see the iPod line still doing very well.

 

[CFreymarc]

1. Given the influence of bureaucrats, lobbyists and PACs, it's an open question how democratic Western countries really are.

If you haven't figured it out yet, western society is effectively a meritocracy where one's political power comes from the products and productivity you create. Thus very productive individuals and corporations that put out product that the masses show their appreciation in the form of consumption have the influence.

The big things that hold back production are the liberal "four horsemen" that in reality only consume producing nothing practical for society growth. These four horsemen are: labor unions, academics, environmentalists and social workers.

They all have an agenda to attack the most productive parts of society in the name of "social justice" while not contributing toward the growth of society only it "preservation" or "sustainability." When this current president is out, the four horsemen are in for a big reduction in their numbers and influence.

2. There would be plenty of iProducts. Apple used to manufacture Macs locally (in Fremont) and sold them at a profit. They would be a lot more expensive, so less total people could afford them, but so would all the competition's products. Maybe you would have a choice between a nice subsidized $1299 iPhone and a $599 el-cheapo Motorola cell phone. But the U.S. employment numbers would be slightly better, so a few more people could afford them. And a lot of the current Chinese factory employees might still be in the rice paddy's, where there's an even higher mortality+suicide rate than in the ODM dorms. So most people would probably be worse off.

China would not be in the position it is if the above four horsemen made it not solvent to produce locally.

Dig deeper and you will find a bunch of bankers backing these horsemen groups in order to keep real estate prices high thus creating an artificial high cost of living. These bankers benefit from mortgage payments loaned from money that they created out of thin air since we are not on the gold standard.

Steve Jobs desperately wanted to build locally but the local unions and environmental regulations didn't allow it. Thus giving Foxconn the deal of the century.

The biggest drama around here for production is Tesla taking over the NUMMI plant to start building all electric vehicles. Tesla and Toyota waited exactly six months 'til the Abandonment Clause of the UAW contract enacted having them loose their domain over the facility.

I was told, an attorney from Tesla wrote a letter to UAW HQ in Michigan telling them their Charter didn't cover electric vehicles. So far, the independent line workers are getting a good wage, good benefits and no one doing anything to keep that from slowing down.

China will implode. Just a matter of time.

 

[Drag'nGT]

I'm shocked the iPod line isn't selling as well as I thought it was...

Anyway, that giant section marked iPhone makes me think Apple will be giving us an awesome iPhone 5. Why would it take over a year to get us the phone if it was on a small speck bump?

 

[SandynJosh]

Product transition?

Yeah, apparently very few readers picked up on that. An answer to a question on a projected 12% downtick in revenue guidance went like this: "There is also a future product transition that we are not going to talk about today."

So, sometime in the next three months some product is going to change greatly somehow, and we have no rumors about it yet. I would expect that this is something more then a HD iPad, but it's intriguing to wonder???

 

[GeekLawyer]

So, sometime in the next three months some product is going to change greatly somehow, and we have no rumors about it yet. I would expect that this is something more then a HD iPad, but it's intriguing to wonder???

Apple now makes most of its money from iPhone. I believe the "transition" Tim Cook spoke of will be the change from iPhone 4 to iPhone 5, which will happen in that timeframe. (As the rumors go...)

 

[Jcoz]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Nah, that isn't what a business man like cook would call a "transition", IMO. Could be wrong though

 

[L I G H T I N G]

It's valid to say that the iPad destroyed the consumer netbook market. and why not - netbooks are crap. The only acceptable "netbook" in terms of size is the 11" Macbook Air and that's $999.

The macbook Air is a notebook( NOT a netbook), it specs greatly outpaces the ones set by netbooks.

 

[n8236]

Those figures are just DISGUSTING!!

Maybe President Obama should sent Steve Jobs to help with the national debt and ceiling talks

 

[Sackvillenb]

These numbers are very telling. For all the people who bash apple... The company is obviously doing a few things right to have such ridiculous success....! Apple is not a perfect company with perfect products, but they are leagues ahead of the competition in most respects...

 

[Sackvillenb]

The big things that hold back production are the liberal "four horsemen" that in reality only consume producing nothing practical for society growth. These four horsemen are: labor unions, academics, environmentalists and social workers.

They all have an agenda to attack the most productive parts of society in the name of "social justice" while not contributing toward the growth of society only it "preservation" or "sustainability."

Do you really think "sustainability" does not contribute to growth? How about long term growth?

In a biological system (an organism, for example), do you know what growth without sustainability is called? Cancer.

And by definition, growth without sustainability is not viable in the long term. It's like consistently spending more than you earn. It will put you in debt. And in the case of cancer...it will kill you.

You need to start using your brain.

 

[Casiotone]

1)You did not read my post...I said other than music and video files, no, it cannot store my files. If I am wrong, please tell me why I can't save PDF attachments from my email?...and why I can't, say, visit a website and download their 20 page Word document to read while in the car? There are numerous examples. I'm sure that if I connect the iPad to iTunes and let it sync for 15 minutes and do 11 mouseclicks and blah blah blah, there is some kind of additional file "storage" ability. But that's just a ridiculous amount of work. If the iPad can beautifully display the Excel doc in my email, it should be able to save it to the iPad so I can read it again without having to access my email.

Ehm, when was the last time you used an iOS device?

Ever since the first iPad OS (3.2) you've been able to download and save file attachements on your iPad. iOS 4 made the functionality available to other iOS devices.

Once you have any app that registered as being able to open a given format, it means you can open and save files from either mail or Safari in those apps.

For example, if you have iBooks installed, you can hold your tap on an attachment or Safari link and get an "Open in..." option. If you open a PDF in iBooks, it will become part of your library, thus it will be saved to your device for offline reading. If you have multiple apps that can open this format you'll be able to choose which one will open it. Words document can be saved via Pages, Excel via Numbers, etc.

And if you want a central location to save your files, get GoodReader which is an app that like many others of its kind that can open, store and share many formats (including PDF, Word, Excel, movies, audio etc). It can even unzip archives that you got from email or Safari and view/hear their content.

All of this requires only one or two taps once the app is installed.

 

[firewood]

Yeah, apparently very few readers picked up on that. An answer to a question on a projected 12% downtick in revenue guidance went like this: "There is also a future product transition that we are not going to talk about today."

So, sometime in the next three months some product is going to change greatly somehow, and we have no rumors about it yet.

Plenty of rumors.

They will announce the iPhone 4+ a bit before it is ready to ship, as they usually do with iPhones... and sales of the current iPhone 4 will drop off a cliff. The huge lines for the 4+ might be for a very few days at the end of the quarter, but won't compensate for the prior few weeks of a yawning gap in iSales. Which will add up to a large portion 12% downtick.

 

[harpyeagle]

I'd have to disagree

Not to deviate from the topic, but had to respond...

I believe that netbooks have a very tough road ahead. *But they still do serve quite a few purposes that the iPad does not offer:

-real, not virtualized, keyboard
***A BT keyboard could be attached/detached-More freedom than Netbook
-price
***The price includes future feature enhancements unlike Netbooks. Did you consider the cost of adding an anti-virus s/w and other so called protection enhancements not to mention the insecured feeling you get no matter how hard you try.*
-offering common ports (USB, HDMI/VGA out, etc)
***Most if not all of these ports' function is achieved by Airplay and that is good enough for most people - Again less security cocerns.
-offering ability to plug in items to expand the system (hard drives, flash keys)
***I am positive once Icloud is here, these would be not needed.
-offering far more storage for the dollar
***Icloud again adds value proposition. Would add value to my Ipad for no additional cost BTW.*
-slightly larger screens than iPad...11-12" instead of 9" on iPad
***I'd take an IPS screen over a bigger carppy screen anyday.*
-install any darn software you wish...no Big Brother by Apple
***Agree, but at what cost? I use my Ipad for everything from bank stuff to what not. I am not worried at all about some s/w stealing your passcode,etc.
-familiar Windows UI
***IOS is so friendly and Intuitive that you don't have to be familiar with it to use it.
-run popular, full blown apps you have been for years (MS Office, browsers, chat clients, etc)
***Except MS Office, I am not sure what you mean by full blown for others. Chat clients just have a different UI in IOS. How is that not full blown? What is not full blown about Browsers? Actually its more pleasure using a browser in Ipad.*
-ability to print to thousands of printers rather than iPad's select 8 HP printers
***Agree, but this should soon change.*
-ability to actually store your files (not just mp3s or videos)...such as PDFs, email attachments, MS Office, ZIP files, etc.
***Valid point. Dropbox is just one alternative that I'd mention however. PDFs could already be stored in Ibooks. You have innumerable Apps for the other stuff.
Again, I'm just listing why Netbooks can survive. *The iPads have their pros, too. *But the inability to save files on my iPad is a huge, huge disappointment.

 

[bagelche]

Plenty of rumors.

They will announce the iPhone 4+ a bit before it is ready to ship, as they usually do with iPhones... and sales of the current iPhone 4 will drop off a cliff. The huge lines for the 4+ might be for a very few days at the end of the quarter, but won't compensate for the prior few weeks of a yawning gap in iSales. Which will add up to a large portion 12% downtick.

I don't think it's the next iPhone. Look at the full quote:

For education buying season, September is weighted toward higher education, and we expect increases there. We also expect increases in iPhone, etc. There is also a future product transition that we are not going to talk about today.

The sentence before says they expect increases in iPhone sales at that time (new model). The next sentence begin with "there is also..." as in addition to the iPhone.

That's my reading at least. Transition usually implies something that already exists. If not the iPhone (in this assumption), what would it be? What sort of transformation?

 

[firewood]

Maybe President Obama should sent Steve Jobs to help with the national debt and ceiling talks

All of Apple's worldwide revenue for the past year would not even cover the annual interest payments on the U.S. national debt, much less start to pay it down.

 

[Worf]

In general we are playing in the prepaid market -- not avoiding that market, we know we need to play there in order to have the types of volumes we'd like to have.

Expanding our channels is obviously on our to-do list.

Intimating at a cheaper iPhone to come?

 

[CFreymarc]

Do you really think "sustainability" does not contribute to growth? How about long term growth?

In a biological system (an organism, for example), do you know what growth without sustainability is called? Cancer.

Oh-boy, oh boy! Pissed off a falsely educated liberal and an Ad hominem on the first reply. Score!

And by definition, growth without sustainability is not viable in the long term. It's like consistently spending more than you earn. It will put you in debt. And in the case of cancer...it will kill you.

You need to start using your brain.

I'll use what I want. Right now, I'm looking at statistics and production. These "environmental" groups have a very poor history of contributing to production. They attack the successful in the name of a total arbitrary "save the environment" that has no real proof of their goals. It is also the same crowd that is promoting the Global Warming fraud. Criminal prosecutions will start the next administration.

They are not interested in saving the environment, they just use that line as an excuse to enslave and control most of humanity as they get exceptions for their private jets and mansions in the hills paid via tax shelters.

 

[CFreymarc]

We have heard ad nauseam about how Android is an "open" platform and developers have the freedom to put whatever they want without an app approval committee. Yet, iOS is still where the money is. Developers for iOS have earned $2.5 billion in revenue. Android developers haven't even heard half as much.

Yup, the Android market is a total mess for developers. It is like Vaudeville with a bunch of armatures from all over the world throwing out whatever they can. Apps are constantly breaking when a new model of Android phone comes out. This consumes massive amounts of billable engineering hours making solvency for most Android app developers very difficult.

Google and their licensees view third party app developers as almost a burden. They smack them around like a high school quarterback going through girlfriends like tissue paper and don't care how they feel. Another one just as sexy and willing to play is always around.

For the past year, I have seen report after report predicting that once Android gains enough market share, developers will jump ship to Android in droves. Android has taken top market share in smartphones and it will likely remain that for the foreseeable future. Yet, iOS is still the platform of choice for most developers.

One exec said it best, "Sell a cheap product and you get cheap customers." That is exactly what Android is -- cheap! You think a cheap Android phone user is going to pay for apps after they got the phone for free and can barely pay their monthly cell phone bill? No!

An accessory market is only as successful as the affluence of the primary platform consumers. A perfect example of this is the motorcycle accessory market. While the rice rocket jocks bitch and moan about cruiser style bikes (Harley, Indian, Victory et. al.) If they drop only a few thousand for a bike, that customer is not going to drop and extra grand or so for accessories.

Harley's are some of the highest priced motorcycle lines out there and they have a thriving aftermarket. Most accessory companies for lower priced motorcycles only survive amortizing accessory design for multiple product lines.

 

[CFreymarc]

All of Apple's worldwide revenue for the past year would not even cover the annual interest payments on the U.S. national debt, much less start to pay it down.

Said but true. However, the modus operandi could be learned. What is the product of the Federal Goverment? Per the Constitution, it is personal freedom, opportunity, growth and get the hell out of the way letting people that know better about themselves to do what they may. However I don't think Steve Jobs would take the cut in pay.

 

[Robellyn]

Q: 12% downtick in revenue guidance is more than usual. Why?
A: Let me start with the units. For education buying season, September is weighted toward higher education, and we expect increases there. We also expect increases in iPhone, etc. There is also a future product transition that we are not going to talk about today. Those factors are already in our guidance. Confident in our pipeline. Tim Cook talking about some cannibalization of Mac by iPad. But also cannibalizing Windows. Very happy with 14% growth in Mac

​

.

There is no reason to believe from this quote that he is talking about iPhones at all ... it's about a hit they are going to take. Am I the only one who thinks this is about something they are discontinuing (a Product transition sounds like a euphemism for Discontinuation)? Perhaps it's an allusion to the rumoured MacBook end-of-the-line (transitioning entry level laptops to the Air)?

 

[jive turkey]

Said but true. However, the modus operandi could be learned. What is the product of the Federal Goverment? Per the Constitution, it is personal freedom, opportunity, growth and get the hell out of the way letting people that know better about themselves to do what they may. However I don't think Steve Jobs would take the cut in pay.

Sadly, there MIGHT be 3 elected officials in Washington who give a crap about the Constitution. The rest just make it say whatever they want it to say so they can continue their power grab. I expect there will be a lot of long faces on Judgment Day when God asks these people why they put their hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution, then proceeded to pretend like it didn't exist.

 

[silentnite]

This is a hard act to follow. I'm sure no other tablet makers are seeing profits no where near these. This means the world has given up on PC. for sure. The world runs on Mac.

 

[314631]

​

.

There is no reason to believe from this quote that he is talking about iPhones at all ... it's about a hit they are going to take. Am I the only one who thinks this is about something they are discontinuing (a Product transition sounds like a euphemism for Discontinuation)? Perhaps it's an allusion to the rumoured MacBook end-of-the-line (transitioning entry level laptops to the Air)?

They are going to discontinue the iPod Touch and launch a low-cost iPhone, unlocked, pay-as-you-go usage, priced around the same as the current high-end iPod Touch.

 

[AppleScruff1]

These numbers are very telling. For all the people who bash apple... The company is obviously doing a few things right to have such ridiculous success....! Apple is not a perfect company with perfect products, but they are leagues ahead of the competition in most respects...

They sure are. They get consumers to pay a high price for products that cost them very little to produce. And then these same consumers are elated that the company makes a huge profit from them and brag about it like the money was going into their personal bank accounts. I would say that Apple is absolutely brilliant. They certainly have targeted the right type of consumer. Every business on earth dreams of having customers like this.