Apple rides high on back of iPad, iPhone sales

Apple has just released its latest financial results and it looks like the Cupertino giant is healthier than ever.

Well it was hardly going to be disaster at every turn now was it? This is the world’s most valuable company we’re talking about after all.

Things look especially good for sales of Apple’s signature iDevices. This quarter saw it ship 26-million iPhones, representing 28% year on year growth and 17-million iPads, representing 84% growth from the same period last year.

The iPhone growth is impressive, given that a large number of people might be holding back until the much-anticipated iPhone 5 comes out later this year.

The real story though is the iPad. Sure part of that sales boost might be down to the hype around the new iPad and the subsequent drop in price on the iPad 2. What it confirms however is that tens of millions of people are literally buying into Apple’s post-PC philosophy.

That might explain why Mac sales only grew two percent from the same period last year. An updated range, rocking Retina Display technology, may give the Mac a slight boost though.

“We’re thrilled with record sales of 17-million iPads in the June quarter,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.”

The iPod — which let’s not forget played a massive role in Apple’s revival — continued its slide into obsolescence. Sales of the portable music player fell 10% from the same period last year.

The Cupertino-based tech giant also revealed that it posted quarterly revenue of US$35-billion and quarterly net profit of US$8.8-billion. International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue. In fact, China alone brought in US$5.8-billion in sales and, according to Cook, the market there is still growing at an “incredible rate”.

Apple stockholders will get a slice of that profit too. The company declared a cash dividend of US$2.65 per share of its common stock.

That’s something that they’ll still be getting used to, given that the company never gave out dividends, even when it was able to under Steve Jobs.

Here’s the thing, Jobs was paranoid about Apple returning back to its dark days and wanted every cent invested back into the company. Now that the company’s war-chest is US$117-billion strong, it’s probably safe to reward its loyal shareholders.

“Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about US$34-billion and diluted earnings per share of about US$7.65,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer.

That’s a little less than what it made this quarter but that’s probably very deliberate. It gives Apple’s board a little breathing room if things don’t go 100% according to its exacting plan and makes it seem like it isn’t just lying back, expecting every product to hit it out of the park every time.

While some think the changes made at Apple in the last few months would have Jobs rolling in his grave, they don’t seem to be affecting the company’s financial success.

Still, if the friendlier, more open company Cook’s running is to succeed, it’ll have to keep up the attention to detail that Jobs was renowned for. And anyone concerned at its decisions to resurrect an Apple TV interface that Jobs rejected five years ago right to be so, no matter how many brilliant financial quarters the company has.