Stock holders, analysts, and media members alike joined in to listen to Tim Cook and other Apple executives read off Apple’s Q1 earning results this afternoon. Although the numbers were released earlier today, the conference call included a Q&A session with some of Apple’s execs.
The bottom line was obviously that Apple’s Q1 earning results were staggering. They posted nearly $25 billion dollars in revenue and shipped over 18 million iPhones worldwide. What else did Apple disclose on the conference call?
A question was asked to acting CEO Tim Cook on the current health status of Steve Jobs. Cook responded by saying that they see Jobs often, and he is still involved in major decisions. “Steve really wants to return to work full time, but is currently still on medical leave.”
Peter Oppenheimer was on hand for the forum, and set the record straight on the effects of the Japan tragedy on Apple’s supply chain. Those who don’t recognize the name, Oppenheimer is Apple’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
He stated that currently Apple is experiencing no delays and doesn’t know of any in the foreseeable future. That is obviously subject to change due to Japan still being plagued by aftershocks, high radiation levels, and frequent power outages.
It was no surprise that Apple deflected several questions from analysts regarding future products, but Cook did take the time to reiterate Apple’s stance on 4G technology.
“First generation LTE chipsets still cause major design compromises that Apple isn’t willing to make. We are happy with the performance and the sales of both the iPhone 4 and the 3GS thanks to the $49.99 AT&T promotion.”
The response was to a question on whether or not Apple felt a sense of urgency to adopt 4G for their devices. I guess when you ship close to 20 million iPhones in a quarter, you’re not really worried about what you can be doing better.
Apple said that their impressive numbers were due in part to the launch of the iPhone 4 on Verizon. It’ll be interesting to see how many iPhones Verizon has actually sold so far, when they bust the myth tomorrow with their quarterly earnings announcement.
I’m guessing just under 4 million, any takers?