Apple offered no major product releases during the quarter, as most of the company's attention was focused on the iPad. The tablet device was introduced in late January, but did not launch until April 3rd, just after the end of the quarter. And even so, the launch was limited to Wi-Fi models in the United States. Availability of 3G-capable models in the United States is expected later this month, while Apple this week announced that availability of all models in its initial set of international markets has been delayed until late May due to high demand in the U.S.
For the quarter, analysts are predicting net earnings of $2.43 per share on revenue of $12.03 billion, above Apple's guidance of $2.06-$2.18 profit on $11.0-$11.4 billion of revenue. Apple'syear-ago results for the second fiscal quarter of 2009 initially included net earnings of $1.33 per share on revenue of $8.16 billion. Those calculations were based, however, on earlier accounting methods that utilized "subscription accounting" for iPhone and Apple TV revenue. Apple adopted revised accounting standards at the beginning of fiscal 2010, and afterretrospective application (PDF) of the new standards, the year-ago quarter yielded net earnings of $1.79 per share on revenue of $9.08 billion."
Written by Eric Slivka
