Apple Profit Falls Despite Strong iPhone Sales

SAN FRANCISCO - Unlike past years, Apple in September released two new iPhones instead of just one. The company's financial earnings report on Monday offered the first hints that the new strategy might result in stronger overall revenue. Apple on Monday reported revenue of $37.5 billion in the latest quarter, up from $36 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Still, the two phones did not help lift the company's profit. Apple earned $7.5 billion, or $8.26 cents a diluted share in the latest quarter, down from $8.2 billion, or $8.67 a diluted share during the same quarter last year.

The company said it sold 33.8 million iPhones, up from 26.9 million iPhones in the same quarter last year. Wall Street analysts had expected that Apple would sell 29 million to 38 million new iPhones.

The lower profit may be because sales of its Macs being slightly down. The company said it sold 4.6 million Macs, compared to 4.9 million in the same quarter last year. Apple's iPad sales were roughly flat, at 14.1 million, but overall revenue for its iPads decline 13 percent.

The company beat the expectations of Wall Street analysts. They had expected earnings of $7.93 a share and revenue of $36.84 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

Shares in the company fell about 2 percent in after-hours trading.

'We're pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones,' said Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive. 'We're excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS.'

Apple has positioned itself aggressively for the coming holiday quarter, the most lucrative time of year for hardware makers. Following the release of the two new iPhones in September, Apple is set to release two new iPads in November. It also released new Mac laptops last week.