Another quarter, another announcement without a major new product launch for Apple (NSQ: AAPL). Third-quarter figures from the Cupertino-based computing giant were roughly as analysts had expected: sales ticked up slightly to $35.3bn (£23bn) from $35.0bn, but net profits fell 22 per cent to $6.9bn, from $8.8bn last year.
Unit sales of the iPhone nevertheless provided a welcome silver lining. Apple shipped a record 31.2m iPhones in the quarter, up 20 per cent year-on-year, albeit down on the 37.4m devices sold in the preceding quarter.
Yet iPad sales of 15m units missed analyst expectations of 18m. Worse, iPad unit sales actually fell year-over-year for the first time, something the iPhone has yet to report. Sales of Apple’s personal computers also suffered a minor decline for the third straight quarter. More worrying still, group-wide sales in Greater China slumped 43 per cent quarter-on-quarter, mainly caused by a faltering Hong Kong market. The area accounts for roughly 14 per cent of total revenue.
