It's that time of the year! Companies, especially technology ones, are releasing their quarterly earnings statements. One of the most awaited ones in recent years has been Apple's and its Q3 2011 earnings do not disappoint at all (perhaps only for competitors).
Apple's Q3 2011 earnings are its best ever, with revenue totaling $28.57 billion -- of which $7.31 billion is profit. Not sure where this ranks the company in total revenue, but these figures have to Apple within the elites. A brief breakdown of the revenue sources reveal something we already known for a while: most of the revenue come from hardware sales. The Apple juggernaut sold 20.34 million iPhones, 9.25 million iPads, and 3.95 million Macs. These are extremely impressive figures, with which no other hardware manufacturer can compete against (especially when you factor in the diversity, e.g. Samsung/HTC may ship more phones, but nowhere near the number of tablets). Even the slight blip in the earnings statement was expected: a decrease of iPod Touches from 9.41 million to 7.54 million.
While I am no fan of its products, I am a fan of Apple's sheer business savvy-ness as measured by the loyalty of its massive customer base. The ecosystem Apple built, while decried (rightfully so) by critics for how closed it is, looks to be sustaining the company's revenue growth. Customers who are lured into a single Apple product will ultimately buy other Apple products too. Case in point: my roommate started off with an iMac, but now owns a MacBook, an iPhone, and an iPad.
Well done Apple, Jobs well done (couldn't resist). I may even break my self-imposed embargo on your products by buying the iPad 3...if you release it soon.
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