Apple bucks trend, posts healthy Q4 figures

22 January 2009

Apple Inc lifted the recession gloom a bit with performance that boosted its shares 10 per cent in Germany's trades, handsomely beating analysts' estimates for the last quarter.  The performance has helped allay fears that the recession and chief executive officer Steve Jobs' absence would stall growth.

Overseas demand for Macintosh computers, iPhones and iPod players pushed the quarterly sales for the first time past $10 billion even as domestic demand slowed down. Analysts had expected profits to fall for the first time in five years.

Apple's product line helped the company post healthy growth and command premium prices even with the shrinking economy, job losses and falling consumer lending.

Apple updated models and ventured into new countries which helped it buck the trend in the worst holiday shopping season in four decades.  Analysts attribute the company's performance to consumer confidence which helps it override even a downturn.

Apple sold 4.36 million iPhones, a record 22.7 million iPods and 2.52 million Macs in the quarter as against  5 million iPhones, 18.6 million iPods and 2.4 million Macs forecast by analysts. 

The profits also lifted with lower prices for parts such as memory and disk drives. The first-quarter gross margin, also topped estimates at 34.7 per cent as against 31.5 per cent forecast by leading analysts.