Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 22, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
In accordance with GAAP accounting requirements, the company recognizes revenue and cost of sales for iPhone and Apple TV over their economic lives. After adjusting GAAP revenue and product costs to remove these effects, the corresponding non-GAAP figures* for the quarter were US$11.68 billion in “adjusted revenue” and US$2.44 billion in “adjusted net profit.”
Apple shipped 2,611,000 Macintosh computers during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, representing 21 percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The company sold 11,052,000 iPods during the quarter, representing eight percent unit growth and three percent revenue growth compared with Q4 2007. Apple sold 6,892,000 iPhones during the quarter, compared with 1,119,000 in the year-ago quarter.
“Apple has just reported one of the best quarters in its history, with an incredible iPhone result—we sold more mobile phones than RIM,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “We cannot yet know exactly how the economic downturn will affect Apple. But we are prepared with the strongest product line in our history, the best employees, and the best customers in our industry. We also have US$25 billion safely in the bank and zero debt.”
“We are very pleased to have achieved 35 percent revenue growth and increased cash by US$9.1 billion in fiscal 2008,” added Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer. “Looking ahead, accurate forecasting is difficult, and we are cautious about the December quarter. We expect revenue between US$9.0 billion and US$10.0 billion and diluted earnings per share between US$1.06 and US$1.35.”
