San Francisco: After losing Smartphone category leadership position to Korean tech company Samsung, it seems that Apple is no more an innovative company in post Steve Jobs era.
Apple announced on Wednesday that it made a profit of $13.l billion on revenue of $54.5 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 29 as sales of iPhones and iPads set quarterly highs.
After the official announcement U.S. technology giant shares slid about 10 percent after the tech giant posted record profits and sales of its iPhones and iPads but offered a disappointing forecast for the coming months.
“Apple’s profit did go up; it just didn’t go up that much,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.
“They had a really high increase in sales, but their high margin is coming apart at the edges and that is why investors are fleeing the stock,” the analyst continued. “They are making less per gadget.”
Apple’s situation after losing category leadership position has been taken very seriously in United State as country is already surviving financial crises in different sectors including the job market.
The California-based company reported that it sold 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPad tablet computers in the closing months of last year.
“We’re thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Despite the figures, some investors soured on Apple, after it forecast that its revenue for the current quarter would range from $41 to $43 billion and it would have a gross margin of from 37.5 to 39.5 percent.
Apple has been long known for a high margin, the difference between what they charge for products and the cost to make them. Enderle referred to it as a “Porsche model” of creations crafted for the high end of a market.
“Steve Jobs traded on a Porsche model,” Enderle said, referring to the late Apple co-founder and chief executive. “Cook is shifting to more of a value model; he is chasing Samsung.”
Peter Misek, analyst at Jefferies, said Apple’s results topped the consensus “but fell short of our estimates.”
Apple shares dropped 9.8 percent to $463.49 in after-market trading that followed release of the earnings results.
“The most important thing is that our customers love our products,” Cook said in an earnings call with financial analysts.
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