Steve Jobs took the mic on Tuesday to announce that Apple is now the third-largest mobile phone supplier in the world. Jobs stated that the company's $4.6 billion in iPhone revenues this quarter place it right behind mobile phone giants Nokia ($12.7 billion for the quarter) and Samsung ($5.9 billion). This puts Apple ahead of Sony Ericsson ($4.2 billion), LG ($3.4 billion), Motorola ($3.2 billion) and RIM ($2.1 billion).Calling the revolutionary handset "stunning," Jobs was also excited to share that Apple sold more handsets in the fourth quarter than Research In Motion. Apple has already surpassed its goal of selling 10 million iPhones within the 2008 calendar year. The iPhone saw tremendous growth during the fourth quarter of 2008 alone, selling about 7 million units of the new iPhone 3G compared to 1 million units of the first-generation iPhone sold in the same quarter of 2007. Complementing the handset's success, Apple's iPods also saw positive results, selling about 11 million units over the quarter.
Altogether, Apple posted $11.68 billion in revenue for the quarter; iPhone sales accounted for 39 percent of that total. Using GAAP figures, Apple posted $7.9 billion in revenue for the quarter. The company saw 17-percent revenue growth and 21-percent unit growth in its fourth-quarter earnings, for a net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share. Overall, Apple performed above analysts' estimates of $1.11 per share and its own forecast of $1 per share.
Source: http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/with-iphone-app.html
