Updated: 10 Million iPhones in 2008! 7 Million in last 3 Months! Apple Q4 Results!
Apple is reporting their Q4, 2008 financial results, and while things look good for the Mac, they look great for the iPhone, with 6,892,000 units sold during the 3 month period, up from 1,119,000 in the same quarter last year. And YES! Apple has already made their 10 million iPhone in 2008 goal, with the holiday season still to come. This makes Apple, dollar-for-dollar, the third largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world (after Nokia and Samsung), and Apple has only been in the space since June 2007!
Says Apple CEO, Steve Jobs:
“Apple just reported one of the best quarters in its history, with a spectacular performance by the iPhone—we sold more phones than RIM.”
Boom!
Mac’s hit 2.6 million, iPod’s at 11 million (not breakout for iPod Touch, as usual).
Conference call is currently underway (and Steve’s on the call!).
Here are some highlights:
When asked why Apple only had 1 iPhone SKU, Steve replied (paraphrased), Babe Ruth only had 1 home run… he just kept hitting it.
On the same topic, Steve said that while other companies made dozens of different voice units, he believes software was becoming the differentiating factor, and that presenting developers with multiple device versions wasn’t compelling. He also said Apple’s competition didn’t come from software backgrounds like Apple did.
When asked if RIM having around 50% upgrades vs. new users, if the iPhone had a greater number of new users, did that make Apple’s true success against RIM higher, Steve maintained he was happy just to beat RIM on the direct numbers.
No direct US vs. International split for iPhone sales were given.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:48 pm
TAKE THAT RIM! TAKE THAT BLACKBERRY!
I hope you crackberry people read this to!
I feel like Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder! Hey you! yeah you! go punch Him in the face REALLY HARD!
MMMMM!!!!
October 21st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
WOW! That’s all I can say. WOW!
October 21st, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Good article at Fortune online. They said that Jobs was there to put the earnings in perspective with the stock down 50% and the revenue shy of analyst estimates. According to the article, Jobs said that if Apple had recognized revenue on the iPhone & AppleTV as they do PC sales rather on a subscription basis (spread out over 2 years) the company’s numbers would have been:
net income $2.4 billion on sales of $11.58 billion
Versus
net income of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per share, on sales of $7.9 billion just announced
Jobs made it sound that he likes the cash position that the company is in and they might make some acquisitions.
Article: http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/21/apple-steve-jobs-tech-wire-cxbc1021jobs.html?partner=yahootix
October 21st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Think Jobs want to buy SUN? …or RIM?
October 21st, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Funny how this did not make it onto Crackberry… shocking…
October 21st, 2008 at 9:13 pm
And if it did make it on Crackberry I could only imagine how all the BB fan boys would cry foul.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Yes! I knew Apple could do it… Great job Apple! You met your 2008 goal in October. You still have 2 more months to make more sales and revenue off the iPhone 3G. I can’t wait to see what the next-gen iPhone is like.
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:07 am
Well done Apple. I thought 10 million was a pie-in-the-sky figure, to be used as motivation. They’ve done it, with the 2 busiest months to come! Deserved though, everything else is years behind.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:29 am
I am one. I dropped my BB Curve for an iPhone and have liked it every since.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:31 am
WOW. I mean YAWN. After letting RIM define the market, this Johnny-come-lately sold a few phones…10 mil WORLD WIDE?? Big deal. Question? Does Apple count a phone shipped to a store as sold?? I bet they do. Lets compare Apples numbers to the number ACTUALLY sold at retail and see how many they REALLY sold. I went to one of my local ATT stores here, which is realy just a hole in the wall, and asked about the phones. If you still had to order one, etc. The guy just looked at me and laughed. Said they were piled up in the back. Said I was the first to ask about one all day. Tried another location, and got the same answer. The iPhone ship has sailed. Look for the dreaded price drop to keep it selling……uh, like the last one. iPhone part 3 will be another pretty box with the same do nothing without spending more money gadget the the first 2 were. And, yes, I have one. Jumped on the bandwagon back in July and bought one. Waited for the “fixes” so I can do what my Curve did. STILL waiting. Email is a joke, NO MMS ( come on!! A $9.00 Razr phone can do that.), does NOT offer desk top web browsing (neither does my Curve, but I did not buy this phone for partial pages / mobil web sites), can not upgrade new versions of whats on it (think Google Maps), terrible battery, and it just goes on and on. Gave the phone to my 2 year old to play with, and went back to my Curve. If you have time to play games all day, fine. I don’t. It does not do what a BB does, and that is a good thing. It’s NOT a Berry. And, the Berry is NOT an iPhone. And THAT’S good. So stop all this “we won” BS. At the end of the day, it is a pretty phone with a touch screen that you can “somewhat” customize. But, so is the G1 (and don’t compare it to the 3G. That’s not fair. Think first gen iPhone, and all of it’s faults), the Storm, the Bold, and whatever else is on the horizon. The iPhone has lit the fire of development, and that is a VERY good thing, but it runs the risk of being run over by the very train it helped release. The next gen of the phone needs to be very different in some way. Knock BB all you want, but the have something the iPhone does not….choice. Touch, fixed, flip, camera, no camera, video, you can find one for your needs. If you buy an iPhone, you get an …….iPhone. Pics, but no zoom. Pics, but no video. Take a pic, and you have to download it to name it, then put it back on the phone. I can take a pic, name it, and save it to a folder without ever touching a computer. It plays music, goes onthe web, I have ATT Nav for driving directions, there is just too much it does “out the box” that I am still waiting to see if Lord Steve will allow us to have. Not giving up, just not holding my breath….
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
It is absolutely mind-boggling for one to fathom the enormous appeal of the iphone, given that it has been in the market for only 15 months. Herculean achievement indeed!! Apple is being rewarded for it’s innovation and technology saavy by people all over the world. I can’t imagine how much smartphone market share Apple would have today if they came out with the iphone five years ago.
I’m sick and tired of reading about all the major players in the smartphone arena, and new ones entering into the fray, making boastful remarks about coming out with new and improved phones that have the potential of going head-to-head with the iphone, often naming these devices as “iphone killers”, but in all cases, falling far short of their claims. It’s so comical, their attempts that is, nevertheless, I give them tiny kudos for effort.
Well, as this Q report has indicated, the best method in deciding who is doing the best job of making products that are relevant to people’s everyday lives is ultimately where these same people’s investment dollars end up at, especially given the fact that most Americans are downsizing and cutting back on non-essential items in their family budget because of the economy. The verdict is in (drums rollin’): Apple’s iphone is the undisputed champion of the people, and for the people, and by the people.
Almost 7 million iphones sold in one Q with 2 months left before the 2008 year is out, beating out a powerhouse like the blackberry’s RIM, taking on all newcomers, including the iphone’s latest challenge(please let it be a worthy opponent!), T-mobile’s G1. Yet, my suspicious perdiction is: the iphone’s popularity is going to soar into orbit while those who opt to invest in the G1 are in for a rude awakening. The T-mobile network is limited to too few areas, subjecting the Android G1 users to unnecessary frustration and anger.
As an iphone owner, I am absolutely in love with this amazing device. It has become so integrated into my daily life that I depend on it to organize and categorize and provide me with all the info and guide necessary to get through today’s multi-tasking fast-moving oriented society.
I read everything on my iphone. Those who say they’re irritated by the small screen and can’t possibly use handheld devices for such activities are just not making the effort to utilize the iphone features that will absolutely appease such concerns.
On the other hand, I have no qualms about the iphone screen size, it is such a non-issue with me. It is such a delight to wake up in the morning and know that my iphone is not too far from my reach and that whatever challenges I may encounter that day, my iphone is there to sort it all out for me. That’s the kind of effect this device has had on my life.
The best thing about the iphone is the app store and the updated and new application programs added daily that Apple provides to accomadate the iphone and the ipod touch.
All the rave about Google’s G1 for it’s open platform and endless capabilities is, to me, just too premature and hard to judge because it’s all based on speculation by so-called “experts” who are known for sometimes making outlandish comments that are eventually proven to be so off-target.
On the other hand, we have a proven product on the market already, the iphone and it’s app store, a truly trusted source for outstanding application products that are relevant and useful to people like me. Another originating and brilliant idea from the genius crew at the Apple camp.
Bravo Apple! Keep doing what you’re doing because you keep impressing people like me, who would otherwise have been stuck with just some basic regular cell phone that lacks the ability to inspire and excite. The iphone has enriched my life in so many ways that I can’t begin to describe it in words.
I want to recognize and give a shoutout to all the people at Apple Inc., especially the engineers who labor day and night in front of their computer screens trying to write, design and create better products for your customers:
Thank you for your commitment to excellence! Thank you for not being satisfied with just being average, but pushing the envelope of innovation to new frontiers. You make our lives alot easier. Thank you for setting standards of excellence from your Apple stores to your laptops to your Macs to your ipods to your iphones to your itune stores to your app stores. Truly amazing! Thanks!
No longer a silent and closet observer, Paul Paepule