Although earnings were down, Apple today announced a net profit of US$66 million — not bad in an industry that’s been marked by significant downturns since the beginning of the year.
The company’s numbers compare to a net profit of $170 million for the same quarter last year. Total revenues for the quarter were $1.45 billion, off 22 percent year over year, but gross margins rose significantly — from 25 percent to 30.1, year over year. International sales accounted for 41 percent of the quarter’s revenues.
Apple reports having shipped 850,000 Macs for the quarter.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that FY2001 was challenging, but that Apple accomplished a lot. “We gained market share in education, and iBook sales to education tripled last quarter; we launched Mac OS X, and released the stunningly fast 10.1 update in September; we opened our first Apple retail stores, and are on track to open 25 stores across the U.S. by the end of 2001,” said Jobs.
CFO Fred Anderson said that Apple’s balance sheet remains very strong, with over $4.3 billion in cash. He said that Apple is targeting December quarter revenues as at least $1.4 billion.
Apple reported a net loss of $25 million for year on revenues of $5.36 billion, compared to net earnings of $786 million on $7.98 billion in revenues for 2000.