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Apple sold more than 48m iPhones during its fourth quarter in 2015
Sales of more than 48m iPhone devices, including the new iPhone 6s, have propelled Apple to reporting a profit of $11.1bn from total revenues of $51.5bn in the fourth quarter.
This was up from a profit of $8.5bn on revenues of $42.1bn a year ago.
The company said growth was fuelled primarily by strong sales of iPhone devices, expanded availability of Apple Watch and all-time records for Mac sales and revenues from services like Apple Music.
Apple sold 48.04m iPhone devices in Q4, up from 39.2m a year ago. iPad sales fell to 9.8m from 12.3m last year.
Mac sales were 5.7m, up from 5.5m units a year ago. Services, including iTunes, Apple Music and Apple Pay were up 10pc to $5bn. Other products, including Apple Watch, were up 61pc to $3.04bn.
‘We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product line-up yet’
– TIM COOK
“Fiscal 2015 was Apple’s most successful year ever, with revenue growing 28pc to nearly $234bn,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
“This continued success is the result of our commitment to making the best, most innovative products on earth, and it’s a testament to the tremendous execution by our teams
“We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product line-up yet, including iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple Watch with an expanded line-up of cases and bands, the new iPad Pro and the all-new Apple TV which begins shipping this week.”
Looking ahead to the fiscal 2016 first quarter, the Californian tech giant predicts revenues of between $75.5bn and $77.5bn.
Out of all this revenue the company expects operating expenses of between just $6.3bn and $6.4bn.
“Apple’s record September quarter results drove earnings per share growth of 38pc and operating cash flow of $13.5bn,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO.
“We returned $17bn to our investors during the quarter through share repurchases and dividends, and we have now completed over $143bn of our $200bn capital return programme.”