Notes from Apple's Q4 '05 conference call

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter ended September 24, 2005, reporting the highest revenue and earnings in the company's history.

Some very brief notes from the conference call with analysts and the media follow:

Apple sold 1,236,000 Macs during the quarter.

The company also sold 6,451,000 iPods.

602,000 of the Macs sold were desktop systems while 634,000 were portables.

The average selling price of Apple desktops was down slightly year over year due to lower iMac pricing.

Apple shipped over 1 million nanos in the 17 days that were left in the quarter after the player was announced.

The company ended quarter with "enormous backlog" of the nano and cannot predict when it will be able meet a supply and demand balance on the players.

Apple's iPod nano backlog issues are a result of a component constraint, not manufacturing or product mix (2GB/4GB or B/W issues), the company claims.

Demand for the nano is "staggering" said Apple's only executive vice president, Tim Cook.

The company hinted at forthcoming iPod/Mac announcements.

There are now over 1000 authorized iPod accessories on the market.

15 major car manufacturers are offering iPod integration with their automobiles; about 30% of cars in the US will offer iPod integration in 2006

Tiger revenue for the fourth quarter was in the mid-$35 million dollar range.

Apple retail stores saw 14.8 million visitors during the quarter, which breaks down to 9800 thousand visitors per store, per week.

The company plans to open 35 to 40 new retail stores in fiscal 2006, most of which will be in the U.S.

Apple for the first time confirmed that it is constructing a [mega flagship] store on 5th Ave in Manhattan and would like to see it open by the end of the year.

Apple's education sector sold more Mac systems during the fourth quarter than any other quarter in last 10 years.

Higher eduction Mac unit sales grew 38% year-over-year, thanks largely in part to a better than expected back-to-school buying season.

During the quarter, DRAM and LCD-panel prices were more stable than had been expected. DRAM prices should stay down through the current quarter. Hard drive prices are also expected to decline, but less than historical trends would imply.

Mac channel inventory came in below Apple's 4- to 5-week target as Mac sell-through exceeded expectations.

For its first quarter of 2006, Apple expects $4.7 billion in revenue based on 35 percent year over year growth.

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33 Comments

nautical 106 comments · 19 Years

About 19 years ago

So much for the early rumors that Apple wasn't selling many nanos at all. And that there were an uneven supply/demand of white/black models.

nagromme 2831 comments · 22 Years

...and that Mac sales were in a slump!

PS, they said education sales were good. I wonder how edu market share compares to last year? Improving? Or was this a good back-to-school season for Dell too?

polyester 13 comments · 21 Years

Holy cow! 9800 thousand visitors per store, per week! That's 9.8 million visitors per store, per week. *125. That's... 1,225,000,000. PER WEEK.

I smell a typo.

rok 3236 comments · 23 Years

Quote:

Apple has two businesses: "Mac and Music"

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer

gosh, wonder if that statement will come up in the lawsuit of apple vs. apple.

sunilraman 7914 comments · 20 Years

(edit: okay, see chart below)