Apple Q3 FY13: iPhone sales up, iPad and Macs down

Apple posted a healthy profit this quarter, although it notices decreased sales in two major sectors and made a lower gross margin than a year ago.

For the quarter ending June 29, Apple posted gross revenue of $35.3 billion, up from $35 billion one year ago. 57% of revenue was made outside the US.

The company made a net profit of $6.9 billion, a gross margin of 36.9%, which is significantly down on the $8.8 billion of the year before, with a gross margin of 42.8%. Apple said this result was on the high end of its forecasts and it expected margins to drop due to lower sequential revenue and a slightly different product mix on the market.

During the quarter, Apple shifted 31.2 million iPhones, a new record for the June quarter, and an increase from Q3 FY12's 26 million. The iPhone 5 is the most popular model "by far", Apple said.

Other major products did not see increases. 14.6 million iPads were sold, down from 17 million the year before, and the company recorded 3.8 million Mac sales, compared to 4 million in the previous year.

Although iPad sales were down, in response to a challenge from an investor CEO Tim Cook said Apple is still the market leader. He noted that, in particular, the iPad represents the vast majority of web traffic from tablets. So if competitor's products are making inroads into the market, "I don't know what they're being used for," he commented.

The iPad has seen double digit growth in dozens of countries.

“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” Cook said.

“We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”

For Q4 FY13, Apple expects revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion and a gross margin between 36% and 37%.

As a result of the successful quarter, Apple will pay a cash dividend of $3.05 per share in August.