Apple’s profit down despite selling 2 million more iPhones

Apple’s second quarter results saw a drop in profit of $US2.1 billion ( £1.4 billion) compared with the same quarter a year ago, despite selling more iPhones.

Despite selling 2.3 million more iPhones than the same quarter a year ago, at 37.4 million devices sold, its profits dropped  from $US11.6 billion ( £7.6 billion) to $US9.5 billion ( £6.2 billion) in the three months to March, the company reported.

While it’s still not exactly pocket change, this drop was  the first in a decade for the Cupertino giant, the BBC reported, despite the company also selling more iPads than the year ago quarter at 19.5 million, compared with 11.8 million.  Mac sales continued to plateau around the 4 million mark, with sales in the second quarter at just under 4 million, compared with sales of 4 million in the year ago quarter, and 4.1 million in the first quarter of 2013.

The company’s revenue was up on the year ago quarter at $US43.6 billion ( £28.5 billion) compared with $US39.2 billion ( £25.7 billion).

This drop in profit was also a drop from the first quarter of 2013 for the company, down from $US13.1 billion ( £8.57 billion), and revenue of $US54.5 billion ( £25.7 billion).

New products in the pipeline?

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the March quarter revenue was thanks to continued strong performance of the iPhone and iPad, and hinted that the company was at work on new products.

“Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.”

The company offered fairly modest guidance for the third quarter, at  revenue between $US33.5 billion ( £21.9 billion) and $US35.5 billion ( £23.2 billion), which compares with its $US35 billion ( £22.9 billion) revenue for the third quarter for 2012.