Apple Sees Record Profits As iPod Sales Grow

A consumer love affair with Apple products appears to be surviving the recession, with the Silicon Valley company reporting record sales and profits in the final quarter of 2008.

Apple said there were record sales of its iPod media players, while iPhone unit sales were up 88 per cent compared with a year ago and Mac computer sales rose 9 per cent. Its shares rose 9 per cent on the news.

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Comments

[KindAndThoughtful]

Apple is a great company because the people there never stop innovating. Steve Jobs is a genius and a national treasure.

[Harrier]

Apple claims to be a green company, but gears its products towards obsolescence. A case in point, the latest Video iPods are the same as the previous only they have a larger hard drive. Apple has deliberately designed something into their software to prevent people from increasing the size of their hard drives. When hard drives come down far enough in price, the change their software to all addition of larger hard drives. With SD memory, iPod can now be converted to run off that. That said, Apple is now soldering in SD memory that was originally designed to be portable.

If you buy a classic, you will get firmware that allow you to use coverflow and album covers. The memory that takes up negates the additional space they give you-so the user gains absolutely nothing. Additionally the ipod screens are designed to scratch easily-another reason for buying an new iPod.

Then you have the battery. Apple deliberately makes the battery difficult to replace so repair will be so expensive users will be inclined to purchase a new one over not. I received my iPod as a gift, but if I had my own money. In my view the competition has better and more durable products out there with more pleasant firmware.

The older video iPods 30GB can now be converted to 80GB with batteries that will last 5 years or more and is the best model they have for video/music files

[tryharder2think]

Any of the pundits on Apple can suck it. This has been the pattern for years of profits now. No matter what Apple posts - the stocks dive and then recover.

The only highly profitable company in our time makes things people want.

[JonRavGagan]

It came as no surprise to me that Apple's most recent financials were better than those "the pundits" expected.What is surprising however is the manner in which the stock has been fluctuating especially given it's two quarters financials. (I am certain that pharmacies have seen a record sale of Dramamine during these times )

Is it me or does it seem that " the experts" paint Apple as a "Mom & Pop" operation that rises and sets with Jobs. With the financials they pull off and the market share they are commanding I guess Steve Jobs, markets,sells,design/engineer, oversee manufacturing, negotiates distribution channels, sets retail,discount and distributor prices as well as responds to complaints and provide technical support. All the people that are allegedly on Apple's payroll are simply placeholders.

IMHO there are many parts to an efficient machine and Apple's naysayers should go out and purchase a wool shears, clear the wool from their eyes and give the management team that seems to be in place a chance to do show their mettle.

My grandmother used to say tighten your belt today to eat well tomorrow- in today's economy, we need make a little sacrifice; instead of cash bonuses how about the equivalent in stock,senior executives who believe in their companies success should downgrade their compensation to cover their mortgages/rent, insurance, food,necessary expenses, and a reasonable buffer expense allowance for a year. Those that don't should explore other options.