Apple sells 35.2 million iPhones, records revenue of $37.4 billion for Q3

Today, Apple announced quarterly earnings for the third quarter in its 2014 fiscal year. Back in April, the Cupertino-based company predicted revenue between $36 billion and $38 billion for Q3, about $8 billion less than its revenue for Q2. The company hit the middle of that range, reporting $37.4 billion in revenue. That amounted to a net profit of $7.7 billion (or $1.28 per diluted share) for the quarter.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company’s record June quarter revenue was driven in part by strong sales for the iPhone. The company shipped a total of 35.2 million iPhones for the quarter, a substantial increase over the 31.2 million iPhones sold in the same period last year.

iPad sales slipped a little compared to Q2 and the same period last year. Apple shifted 13.2 million iPads in Q3 compared to 16.3 million in Q2 and 14.6 million in Q3 2013. iPod sales slipped once again, falling from 4.5 million units in Q3 2013 to 2.9 million unites this quarter.

International sales accounted for 59 percent of Apple’s quarterly revenue and Apple saw significant growth in China, whererevenue jumped by 28 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Apple also saw 6 percent growth in revenue for Europe and Asia Pacific. Retail, Japan and the Americas each recorded 1 percent in revenue growth compared to 2013.

Predictions for the next quarter are almost as important as financial reports for Q3, as its one area where the notoriously tight-lipped Apple might give away some of its future plans. Between the iPhone 6 and a rumored iWatch as well as the annual iPad update, Apple is rumored to have quite a lot going on in Q4. Cupertino is predicting between $37 billion and $40 billion in revenue for Q4, but also higher operating expenses, which could be indicative of the costs associated with pushing new products. For the record, Apple recording operating expenses of $4.45 billion this quarter and is predicting operating expenses for Q4 will be somewhere between $4.75 billion and $4.85 billion.

Update: Apple also announced that it has paid $20 billion to developers since the launch of the App Store, nearly half of which has been disseminated in the past 12 months. The number of app downloads has also reached an incredible 75 billion.

The company has also completed 29 acquisitions since the beginning of fiscal 2013, five of which came in the last three months.

Tim Cook noted in the earnings call that though iPad sales were down year over year and didn’t meet analysts’ expectations, iPad sales were in line with the company’s own expectations and it is “bullish about the tablet market.”

[source]Apple[/source]