Apple on Wednesday reported strong earnings for the third quarter of 2008, buoyed by strong iPod and iPhone sales.
Net quarterly income for Apple was US$1.07 billion, compared to $818 million for the year-earlier quarter. Earnings per share were $1.19, which beat analyst estimates. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial estimated net income for the quarter ended June 28 to be $976 million and earnings per share of $1.08.
Net revenue was $7.46 billion, beating analyst estimates of $7.37 billion.
The company sold 717,000 iPhone units during the quarter, compared to 270,000 a year ago. Macintosh shipments amounted to 2.5 million during the quarter, growing 41 percent year-over-year, with revenue growth of 43 percent. IPod shipments totaled 11 million units, a 12 percent unit growth and 7 percent year-over-year revenue growth.
Expectations are high with the new iPhone 3G, which was launched in this quarter and sold 1 million units over the weekend, according to analyst estimates.
“We think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we’re busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months,” said Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, in a statement.