Apple reports $20 billion quarter, dismisses 7-inch tablets

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Apple has announced its fiscal 2010 fourth quarter results ending September 25, marking the company's best period yet with revenue up 67% on-year. The company posted revenue of $20.34 billion on profit of $4.31 billion or $4.64 per diluted share, higher than investors' forecasted $17.87 to $19.86 billion revenue.

Cupertino shipped 3.89 million Macs during the fourth quarter, up 27% from last year, but still less than the 4.19 million iPads sold. Meanwhile, the company moved 9.05 million iPods, down 11%, and 14.1 million iPhones, a 91% unit growth year-over-year.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs compared the iPhone's results with BlackBerry-maker RIM, who shipped a lesser 12.1 million handsets in the latest quarter. "Android is our biggest competitor. They outshipped us as we were transitioning to iPhone 4. So we're waiting to find out what happened to this quarter," he said in a conference call that you can listen to here.

The CEO briefly discussed the iPad's upcoming competition and dismissed 7-inch tablets as a valid form factor. "This size is useless unless you include sandpaper so users can sand their fingers down to a quarter of their size," adding further that 7-inch competitors to the nearly 10-inch iPad are effectively DOA. Guess that squashes rumors of a 7-inch iPad.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/40726-apple-reports-20-billion-quarter-dismisses-7-inch-tablets.html

 

[Guest]

lol @ Mr. Jobs... this guy cracks me up. I saw the iPad... I went and played with it at the store, then set it down after a few minutes. The hardware is nice, solid, good display... but the OS sucks and can't do anything as far as i'm concerned. I said to myself "I wonder if anyone will make some iPad competitors, then maybe i'll buy one of those". 6 months later there are several companies making competitors, some of which will run a Windows 7 OS. I know I will be buying one of these, I just don't know which yet. I also know several friends who dismissed Apple's iPad and are waiting for some competition.

So I don't think the smaller competitors are anything to scoff at. I'm betting they may get a quarter of the market share if they are decent products, which would be a decent hit to Apple's future iPad sales. But most of those who couldn't sit back and analyze the situation already pulled the trigger and got an iPad. They may be selling and trying to get one of these 7" competitors when they come out...

 

[aj_the_kidd]

Apple, Love it ot hate it, its not going away based on these numbers,

 

[IamBD]

Steve Jobs, just say what your really thinking. "People will like what I tell them to like".

 

[Guest]

2Go Pad SL10.
I just got one. I bet it's a good competitor.

 

[Guest]

Is it true that the iPad can't even run a full version of iTunes so you still have to sync to it's tiny amount of storage it like you would with an iPod, and is it also true that you can't stream music or video from other computers running iTunes on your LAN? If so, I definitely expected more from Apple.

 

[Guest]

I still can't understand why people buy tablets ...give me an Iphone and a Laptop

 

[SNGX1275]

lol @ Mr. Jobs... this guy cracks me up. I saw the iPad... I went and played with it at the store, then set it down after a few minutes. The hardware is nice, solid, good display... but the OS sucks and can't do anything as far as i'm concerned. I said to myself "I wonder if anyone will make some iPad competitors, then maybe i'll buy one of those". 6 months later there are several companies making competitors, some of which will run a Windows 7 OS. I know I will be buying one of these, I just don't know which yet. I also know several friends who dismissed Apple's iPad and are waiting for some competition.

So I don't think the smaller competitors are anything to scoff at. I'm betting they may get a quarter of the market share if they are decent products, which would be a decent hit to Apple's future iPad sales. But most of those who couldn't sit back and analyze the situation already pulled the trigger and got an iPad. They may be selling and trying to get one of these 7" competitors when they come out...

Do you think Apple is just sitting idly (and raking in profits) while 'competitors' were scrambling to create something? My guess is no. Apple made the first real tablet to make an impact in the consumer market, now people are trying to compete so they have to introduce things the iPad can't do. I really doubt Apple is just sitting there thinking they've won forever, they are working on things to distinguish themselves from the competitors of the future.

I think another way of looking at your situation would be to look at all the time and things you've missed doing on a tablet because you were waiting for something with a different feature, rather than seeing it the way you are.

*I do not own, or know anyone who owns an iPad

 

[LinkedKube]

Unfortunately snx by the time ces comes around ipods/ipads etc etc are being showcased and then from time to launch is simply not enough time to r&d a "brand new," technology. I'd say apple has the tablet market in the bag for at least another year as far as sales.