I was one of the people who bought a Mac in the fiscal quarter that ended March 29. The last time I bought a Mac for myself was over 10 years ago. I guess wasn’t alone, because The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple’s quarterly earnings rose 36 percent, largely on the strength of Mac sales. Revenues grew 43 percent overall to approximately $7.42 billion.
There were some aspects of the Mac sales figures that I found hard to believe. Apple reported that it sold 51 percent more Macs in the quarter than in the same period a year earlier. They sold nearly $3.5 billion dollars worth of Macs in three months. Overall PC market growth was only 12 percent, so Apple is clearly stealing a significant share of the U.S. market from PC makers.
Apple sold 1.7 million iPhones during this period, which is about what analysts that follow the company had expected. The article goes on to say:
Apple executives said a ‘significant’ portion of its iPhone sales continue to involve consumers who ‘unlock’ the iPhone to work on unauthorized wireless networks, especially overseas in countries such as China, where the iPhone isn’t yet available from Apple.
I’m not sure Apple has ever been this explicit about the significance of iPhone diversions from the USA to other countries. [ A subscription may be required to read The Wall Street Journal article referenced above. ]