James Delahunty
26 Oct 2012 10:56
iPad tablet sales slow, reduce profits.
Still, profits in the three month period were $8.2 billion, rising from $6.6 billion - about 27 percent - from the same period of last year. Sales of iPhones were very strong in the financial fourth quarter to September 29th, reaching 29.6 million, which Apple sold 14 million iPads.
That is somehwat short of expectations. Analysts say the likely cause for the slowdown was the rumors of the upcoming iPad mini, where potential customers were reluctant to buy an iPad until they witnessed what new model Apple had to offer.
"We were happy with the 14 million iPad sales in the quarter. It exceeded our expectations," said Apple finance director Peter Oppenheimer. "But as the summer went on, the rumours were pretty rampant about the iPhone and iPad."
Apple shares initially dropped 1.5 percent in after hours trading, but analysts did not see any reason for concern.
A lot of attention is now on the iPhone 5 smartphone, which was only on sale for less than two weeks of Apple's fourth quarter, and is expected to be a hot selling item in the important holiday season.