Apple have announced a profit in the fourth quarter of $7.5bn as the company exceeded analysts expectations.
Despite year-on-year profits dipping by nine per cent, sales increased 26 per cent as business was boosted by the launch of the new iPhone 5s.
Apple said it sold a record 33.8m iPhones in Q4 compared to 26.9m for the same period last year – a new record for the September quarter. But sales of Macs were 4.6m, down from 4.9m from the same time last year.
CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, maintained it was a ‘strong finish to an amazing year.‘
Apple says it expects revenue to be between $55bn and $58bn for Q1 2014 with the iPhone 5s and iPad Air expected to be amongst one of the top sellers at Christmas.
The company is majorly refreshing its product line with launches of the iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPad mini with a retina display and the iPad Air. Other releases include updates to MacBook Pros, and releases for its iOS operating system.
Sales in the Greater China region, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, rose by 24 per cent to $5.7bn as international sales counted for 60 per cent of the quarter‘s revenue.
Apple‘s gross margin was 37 per cent, a decrease of 3 per cent compared in the same time last year.
