Apple Smashes Projections with iPhone Sales

Apple’s results crushed Wall Street expectations for its fiscal first quarter of 2015 selling an incredible 74.6 million iPhones while earning $18 billion in profits, which was 38% higher from the same quarter last year on $74.6 billion in sales, said the company on Tuesday.

Per share earnings at Apple were $3.06 and its gross margins finished at 39.9%.

Wall Street was expecting Apple to have a net profit in the first quarter of $15.3 billion on $67.6 billion in sales, with per share earnings reaching $2.57.

Those forecasts and Apple’s own for sales of $66.5 billion for the final three months of the year appeared far too conservative for what has been a record setting quarter for the maker of all things “i.”

Not only did the company set a new record for iPhone sales, but sales of Mac did as well.

Its hold on the smartphone high-end market is strengthening: even while sales soared amidst talk of monetary deflation in a number of big economies around the world, Apple said the average price per sale for its iPhone increased by almost $50 to reach $687.

Analysts also had predicted that sales of iPhones would be between 61 million and 71 million, which means even the most optimistic projections were beaten by the Cupertino, California based Apple.

It sales would also have finished 4% higher if not for the major fluctuations in major currency particularly in Russia and Japan, said Luca Maestri the CFO at Apple.

Apple said 65% of sales were from abroad, and that in China sales were very impressive. The company ended its quarter with cash of $178 billion.

As for down the road, the company is expecting revenues to be $52 billion to $55 billion for the 2015 second quarter.

Tim Cook said the company was very bullish over the iPhone moving forward. The final quarter saw the largest rate of customer changing from an Android to an Apple device.

He said Apple would start shipping its Apple Watch during April and said he has high expectations for the new wearable.

Cook added that he uses the watch every day and cannot be without it.