Apple profit jumps but shares slip

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple's latest quarterly profit leapt as people around the world snapped up big-screen iPhones but its shares slipped as analysts had expected even more.

The US tech giants reported Tuesday that its profit jumped 38 per cent to $10.7 billion on surging iPhone sales, compared to $7.7 billion in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, Apple shares fell sharply in after hours trading, at one point down around 8 per cent as traders noticed lower than expected sales forecasts.

"We had an amazing quarter," chief executive Tim Cook insisted, noting that iPhone revenue in the quarter that ended on June 27 was up 59 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Analysts had expected Apple to sell even more iPhones and were looking for a brighter forecast than was given for the current quarter.

Apple shares dropped more than 6 per cent to $122.41 in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

Sales of iPhones have been powering Apple profits, and any hint of a plateau spooks investors.

Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones in the quarter, with sales up 85 per cent in Greater China where the company's overall revenue more that doubled to $13 billion, accord to chief financial officer Luca Maestri.

iPhone shines in China 

Big gains in China came despite stock market woes there.

"We remain extremely bullish on China and we are continuing to invest," Cook said, remaining confident that China is poised to be Apple's biggest market at some point in the future.

"We would be foolish to change our plans. I think China is a fantastic geography with an incredible, unprecedented level of opportunity."

He brushed aside any worry about iPhone sales growth, expressing confidents it has “lots of legs” that it will be running with for many years to come given market factors such customer satisfaction rates and the booming overall global smartphone market.

"It is an incredible market," Cook said.

"I think everyone is going to own a smartphone, and we can compete for a fair number of them."