Apple ships 47 million iPhones; investors hang up
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said today that it pocketed a $13.1 billion profit over the final three months of 2012, including the key holiday sales season. That may sound like a windfall profit, but investors were unimpressed, partly because that was the same amount of money Apple made in the final three months of 2011.
The news comes amid other warning signs that the company’s growth is stalling — last week there were news reports that the company was cutting back orders for iPhone 5 components, like screens, because of weak demand and that “the cutbacks amount to as much as half of Apple’s previous sales estimates.”
That’s leading some to say that Apple could be nearing the end of its vogue period. Its stock price now sits just above $500 a share, and analysts say that even if the iPhone is still selling well overall, there’s more fierce competition from smartphones made by other manufacturers like Samsung.
Slate columnist Farhad Manjoo said he was watching the iPhone numbers because that’s the company’s key product. But Manjoo also added that there are some important asterisks on the earnings report:
Remember — there was one fewer week this quarter than last year. Remember that.
— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) January 23, 2013
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