Apple profits fall for first time in 10 years
Baku, April 24 (AZERTAC). Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) has reported its first fall in profits for nearly 10 years - a move that could further threaten its market value.
Analysts expected a tumble of up to 18% in earnings when the company delivered its second quarter trading statement on Tuesday.
In the end, the technology giant announced its profits for the second quarter of the financial year - the three months to the end of March 2013 - were down £1.38bn ($2.1bn) to £6.27bn ($9.56bn), which was what analysts predicted.
Soon after announcing the profit fall, the Apple board cleared the way to buy back $100bn worth of shares by 2015.
It is rumoured that higher component prices and the lower costs of some of its products were what ate into its profit margins.
Stronger competition in the smartphone and tablet markets was also expected to be reflected in the statement.
Weaker demand - largely because of the competition issue - has been blamed for the 40% drop in Apple`s stock value since September last year.
But Apple reported strong growth in the sales of many of its products.
The company sold 37.4m iPhones in the quarter, compared to 35.1m in the same quarter a year before.
Apple also sold 19.5m iPads during the quarter, compared to 11.8m in the year before.
But the company admitted it sold just under 4m Macs, compared to 4m in the year-ago quarter.
Apple did their best to make light of the profits fall.
CEO Tim Cook, who took over after Steve Jobs died of cancer in 2011, said: "We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad.
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