Apple sets Mac sales record

Computerworld - Apple Inc. today announced it had sold 1.1 million iPhones and 2.2 million Macintosh computers in the quarter that ended Sept. 29, with the Mac numbers setting a new record for the company.

Mac sales were up 34% over the same quarter last years, enough to break the previous best by 400,000 machines. Apple sold 817,000 desktop machines and 1.35 million notebooks during July, August and September, a stretch during which Apple ran its usual back-to-school promotion and rolled out a refresh of its iMac desktop lineup.

"Everything is clearly falling into place for Apple," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "There's a wave of acceptance of the Mac as a viable alternative, even outside the U.S."

Apple's data noted that sales of Mac computers had surged 46% in Europe over last year, and 52% in the Asia Pacific region, which includes China but excludes Japan. Although the numbers of systems sold in the latter remained small -- just 155,000 for the three months -- Apple sold nearly half a million machines in Europe, slightly more than the company sold in all its retail stores.

The exchange rate played a part in those sales, said Gottheil, but the weakness of the dollar against other currencies, especially the euro, wasn't the only reason. "The Mac's becoming a reasonable choice because of the switch to Intel, the fact it runs Windows and [Microsoft Corp.'s] Vista kind of being a yawn," Gottheil added.

Price cut pays off big

The iPhone, meanwhile, reached total sales of 1.4 million since its late-June launch. Its impact to the bottom line, however, was minimal, since Apple spreads iPhone revenue earnings over the 24 months of the life of the AT&T contract customers sign. Apple refused to get specific about payments it receives from its wireless partner, however, even though during the previous quarter's call in July, executives hinted that they would be more forthcoming.

"What's interesting about the iPhone is that when you look at the numbers, you see that Apple sold about half as many as they did Macs," said Gottheil. "It's making an impact." Apple cited the August $200 price cut as a major factor for iPhone sales volume. "Units moved once the price dropped," Gottheil said.

For the record, the Cupertino, Calif. posted earnings of $904 million, up from $542 million a year ago, one revenues of $6.22 billion, compared with $4.84 billion a year earlier. In July, Apple had forecast revenues of $5.7 billion, and said it expected profit margin to drop from 36.9% to 29.5% to fund what it called "product transition."