Apple sums up record year

 

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Posted on 6 Nov 2008 at 10:37

Apple’s revenue grew by 35% in the company’s 2008 financial year. In its annual report, the company notes that it made $4.8 billion net profit on sales totalling $32.5 billion.

Mac sales increased by $4 billion as unit sales increased by 38%, an extra 2.7 million units. Mac shipments accounted for 44% of the company’s total net revenue.

The increase was chiefly down to higher sales of the MacBook range, which was expanded by the introduction of the MacBook Air in January. MacBooks accounted for 62% of all Apples computer shipments in both 2008 and 2007.

Desktop shipments sales increased by 37%, due primarily to strong sales of the iMac.

The introduction of the iPod touch at the beginning of the fiscal year had a marked impact on Apple’s revenues from its portable media players. Unit sales rose by 6% but revenues increase by 10%.

“iPod net sales grew faster than iPod unit sales due to higher average selling prices caused by a shift in overall iPod product mix to the higher priced iPod touch,” Apple notes in the report.

Apple also sold 11.6 million iPhones.

The introduction of the iPhone and the continued success of the iPod is also reflected in the $844 million increase in sales from what Apple calls “other music related products”. This largely comprises the iTunes Store, which the company says has also benefited from “heightened consumer interest in downloading third-party digital content, the expansion of third-party audio and video content available for sale and rent via the iTunes Store, and the launch of the iTunes App Store”.

But Apple warned that it expects increased competition in this sector as other companies attempt to emulate its business model of tightly integrating hardware, software and content distribution.

Then again, it said the same thing last year and it notes that to date, the iTunes Store has prospered despite significant competition from other companies and from unauthorised file sharing services.

Apple’s annual report is available from apple.com/investor.

Author: Simon Aughton