Apple sells $4.6 billion worth of iPhones

Apple reported revenue of $7.9 billion in the last quarter of fiscal 2008 and a profit of $1.1 billion. The annual turnover thus came to 32.5 billion, of which a net profit of 4.8 billion dollars remains.

In the quarter ended September 27, Apple sold a total of 936,000 desktops and 1.68 million laptops brought† These two product groups accounted for a turnover of $3.62 billion. In the fourth quarter, Apple further sold 11.05 million iPods for $1.67 billion in revenue. Apple has earned $977 million from software, services, and sales of other hardware and accessories.

The big hit of the past three months, however, was the iPhone 3G: 6.89 million of them were sold and with that a gross turnover of 4.6 billion dollars was realized. Only 6.11 million of the first iPhone were sold between March 2007 and June 2008.

The GAAP accounting method dictates that iPhone and Apple TV sales should be split over their two-year economic life, so that only one-eighth of the iPhone 3G’s $4.6 billion is now credited to the quarterly and annual figures. If you look at the non-GAAP numbers, it appears that Apple was able to book revenues of $11.7 billion in the last quarter and a profit of 2.44 billion. These unofficial numbers also show that the iPhone 3G accounted for 39 percent of quarterly sales. This would make the company the third largest producer of mobile phones worldwide, while Apple has been active in that market for less than two years, CEO Steve Jobs said.

Jobs knew about netbooks narrate that they currently make up only a small portion of the entire PC market. Apple has “some interesting ideas” but won’t get involved in this segment until the market develops, Jobs said; for the time being, consumers would have enough of the iPhone’s capabilities. It is striking in this regard that Gizmodo reported for the umpteenth time on Tuesday that the Mac Mini will be discontinued deletedbut that message was not confirmed by the manufacturer.

Apple says it expects few problems from the global financial crisis. The Cupertino company has no debt and $25 billion in cash available. Jobs expects that despite the problems in the financial markets, customers will continue to buy new Apple products. For the current quarter, Apple expects revenues between 9 and 10 billion dollars.