Apple’s Revenues at Home Strong, Weaker Abroad

While Apple Computer Inc. has been seeing the best Mac sales in the company’s history for the past 13-week quarter, talks about problems oversees threaten to put a damper on Apple’s optimistic outlook in the United States.

MacSimumNews.com reported that in a press conference regarding Apple’s quarterly finances, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook talked about the company’s potential global problems in such countries as Japan and France.

Japan’s revenues for Apple were down for the second quarter in a row, based upon a yearly basis. Though part of that may be blamed on an overall slump in the country’s computer sales (personal computer sales are down 15 percent or so), Cook said “Apple was still expecting big improvements for business in Japan.”
And what makes the dilemma a little more interesting is the fact that the director of Apple Japan recently resigned. MacSimumNews reported that Phil Schiller, Apple’s vice president of worldwide marketing, is taking over the position “on an interim basis and, for now, will lead the overall marketing in Japan.”
Regarding France’s digital rights management (DRM) legislation, Oppenheimer says that Apple’s position is that “state sponsored piracy will hurt the music business in the long run.” Apple hopes the “extremely competitive marketplace driven by consumer choice will determine the course of the online music business,” he added.

However, the entire foreign market does not look too bad. European revenues are up 22 percent year-over-year and Latin America revenue has almost doubled.
So what consumers are responsible for the good news? “Educational sales are the highest in the U.S. in over 10 years with more Macs being sold to educational customers in the June quarter than in any other quarter in the company’s history. On the other hand, sales of pro desktops were relatively slow,” according to MacSimumNews.com.

“We’re pleased with the response to the new Macs, but we feel that some professionals are waiting for Intel-based pro desktops and Universal Binary versions of some applications,” Oppenheimer said in the report. “We’re happy with the Intel transition so far, and Intel-based pro desktops and Xserves will ship before the end of the calendar year.”

Apple Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook noted that the education market was up 11 percent year-over-year and the higher ed market grew 31 percent year-over-year. “We think we’re in good shape for the back-to-school season.”

Also for its fiscal quarter that ended July 1, Apple retail stores brought in $715 million U.S. dollars, a 29 percent increase in growth measured yearly.
The MacSimumNews.com report continued to state that 13 stores opened during the quarter, bringing the total to 155. “Average quarterly revenue per store is $4.9 million and nearly 50 percent of those buying Macs at the stores are new to the platform,” according to Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer.
“Traffic at the stores has been phenomenal,” he said in the report. “Over 17 million customers came to the during the quarter. And the new Fifth Avenue store in New York City, which opened in May, has become Apple’s highest volume store.”

The Macs are popular at the stores but iPod sales remain about the same because of their proliferation at alternate outlets.
And just when you thought the iPod might be getting boring, never fear, the gadget experts are here. A BusinessWeek Online article detailing the new companion gadgets for the iPod had just about everything.
For the iPod lover who needs the music player within reach at all times, iCarta has a dock with bath tissue available on July 21. The device boasts four waterproof speakers and a universal toilet-tissue holder.

The iPod Shoulder Bag gives fashionistas another chance to sport their iPods and let passersby hear their style—all in attention-grabbing white vinyl case. “The player fits conveniently in an outside pocket for easy click-wheel access, and the speakers run on four AAA batteries,” according to BusinessWeek.