Elmer-DeWitt remarks that the share price of AAPL on October 4, 2011, the day before Jobs passed away, was US$372.50 and that the market capitalization of the company was about $347 billion. Now, just four short months later, the stock price is (as of this morning) $472.66, over $100 greater than before Jobs died. That puts the market capitalization of Apple, Inc. at about $440 billion -- over $90 billion of growth in just four months.

Those numbers are staggering. $90 billion is about nine-tenths of the value that Facebook has been given in advance of its upcoming IPO. Elmer-DeWitt notes that it's hard to argue that Apple is overvalued. He quotes Erik Savitz of Forbes noting that even after backing out Apple's $100 billion cash horde, valuation of AAPL is just 2.6 times revenues and 10 times earnings.

The Apple 2.0 post ends on a rather dour note, with Elmer-DeWitt noting that "two prominent Apple bulls" agree that Apple's shares are ready for a sell-off.

Apple stock gains nearly $100 since Steve's passing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple stock gains nearly $100 since Steve's passing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was Microsoft's dominance of the computer industry that led a federal judge to declare that the company had "monopoly power" in 1999. Correspondingly, the revenues and profits generated by the Windows juggernaut equate to the biggest of big money. At least, pretty big money.

In responding to Ed Bott's ZDnet article about the relative distribution of profits among the various business lines at three tech leaders (Google, Microsoft and Apple; Bott's point was that Google's cash comes almost exclusively from advertising, while Apple and Microsoft have more balance), MG Siegler noted that the pretty pie charts were missing a key piece of context. Apple's revenues and profits may weigh heavily on the iPhone, it's true, but what's not apparent from the side-by-side comparison is the scale.

It's not just that Apple is doing better than Microsoft in revenues, profits and market cap. It's not just that Apple earned and kept more than twice as much as Microsoft did in the holiday quarter. It's that the most successful Apple product, considered as a standalone business, is larger than Microsoft all on its own.

No, that's not a typo. In the quarter ending December 31, the iPhone rang up sales of more than $24 billion. All of Microsoft's businesses -- Windows, Office, Xbox, enterprise, consumers, the whole shebang -- chalked up almost $21 billion in revenues. Yes, Microsoft's strongest quarter for business sales may not be the one where IT purchasers are more focused on Christmas vacation than server upgrades. But it's still a breathtaking fact, and a striking transition from a decade ago.

[Hat tip to Business Insider]

Microsoft's $21B in quarterly revenue is nice, but it's no iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft's $21B in quarterly revenue is nice, but it's no iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The news just keeps getting better for Apple in the mobile phone business. Just yesterday, IDC reported that the company is in third place in terms of worldwide mobile phone sales. Today, Asymco analyst Horace Dediu announced that with a relatively small piece of the pie (IDC said 6 percent of market, Dediu says 8.7 percent), Apple is pulling in a whopping 75 percent of profits in the industry.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 notes in an analysis of Dediu's numbers that out of the top eight manufacturers, only five are showing meaningful profits. Samsung has about a 16 percent profit share, while "Nokia, Research in Motion, and HTC are just scraping by. Motorola, LG and Sony, which bought out Ericsson last month, are still in the red."

As Elmer-DeWitt points out, this is for all mobile phones, not just smartphones. And these numbers are for the worldwide market, not just the United States. He concludes that "This doesn't bode well for the manufacturers who have hitched their wagon to Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7."

Apple rollin' in the dough: 75% of cell phone profits originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple rollin' in the dough: 75% of cell phone profits originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This just in from the "not surprising since a rising tide lifts all boats" department -- stock in Apple's primary manufacturing partner, Foxconn, climbed to a recent high on speculation that Apple might be using metal casings for the next-generation iPhone.

The speculation is in line with what Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty noted last month. Huberty believes that Apple is moving away from the glass casing used on the iPhone 4 and 4S and moving to a metal casing instead. Foxconn spokesman Cheng-Kuang Liu, of course, wisely declined to comment about the rumors.

The use of metal in the new iPhone benefits companies like Foxconn that not only assemble Apple's products, but produce the metal casings as well. The company's share price surged almost seven percent yesterday on what so far is baseless speculation.

Foxconn stock climbs on Apple projections originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Foxconn stock climbs on Apple projections originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everyone knows that Apple did exceptionally well in the 2011 calendar year. Its revenues are up, its cash reserves are about to break the US$100 billion mark and its stock price is hovering around $455. This boom is not only beneficial for Apple, but, as Electronista points out, it's also a stimulus for other third-party companies involved in the manufacturing of these devices. We often forget that when Apple sells a record number of iPhones and iPads, other companies like ARM are selling a record number of chipsets, radios and camera sensors needed to make these devices.

ARM is one the biggest beneficiaries of this rise in mobile technology. The company's revenue grew 21 percent to US$217 million, and its profit jumped 45 percent. Across the entire industry, the company collected royalty revenue on the 2.2 billion chips it sold in Q4 2011 alone. Almost 60 percent of this royalty revenue came from phones, tablets and other mobile devices.

The top two mobile device manufacturers selling all these ARM-powered devices are Apple and Samsung. Combined, these two companies sold about 95 million mobile devices in the last three months of 2011.

ARM revenue jumps thanks to Apple, Samsung originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ARM revenue jumps thanks to Apple, Samsung originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As noted by Elmer-DeWitt, "although even the most bullish independents were surprised by the strength of Apple's Q1 2012 results, at least they were in the ball park." In a ranking of accuracy, the independent analysts took the top fifteen positions, while the Wall Street gurus brought up the bottom of the chart.

That's not to say that Wall Street's finest aren't capable of making at least a few good estimates. Asymco's Horace Dediu and Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu were both accurate on predicting the Mac sales numbers. TUAW's favorite analyst, Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, was right on target with his estimate of iPod sales.

When it came to iPads and iPhones, though, the independents beat the street. Gabriel Dubois was close with his estimates of iPhone sales and gross margin, while Gregg Thurman "missed narrowly on iPads."

Elmer-DeWitt notes that "The company that Steve Jobs built is still that rare beast in American business: A $400 billion giant that acts -- and grows -- like a start-up." That ability to be agile, design and sell innovative products, and make huge margins on sales of those products make it difficult for even the most highly-trained Wall Street analysts to make accurate predictions.

Amateurs beat pros at predicting Apple's Q1 performance originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Amateurs beat pros at predicting Apple's Q1 performance originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for January 24, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Daily Update for January 24, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I don't know if anyone else noticed, but shares in Apple, Inc. have reached another all-time high price.

Just minutes ago, AAPL was at US$428.40, although as usual the stock price will probably wobble all over the place before the close. Why is AAPL doing so well? There is mucho speculation that the company will announce record earnings ... again ... on Tuesday, there's a lot of interest in tomorrow's education / textbook announcement, and many related companies (suppliers and mobile carriers are the prime examples) are reporting increased earnings based on sales of Apple products.

At press time, Apple's market capitalization was at $397.97 billion. Yowza.

AAPL breaks all-time high ... again originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AAPL breaks all-time high ... again originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With just under two weeks to go until Apple announces financial results on January 24, analysts are lining up their refined estimates for just how well the company may have done for the holiday quarter. UBS analyst Maynard Um, in a research note to his clients quoted on GigaOM, believes that supplier data is pointing the way to Apple's best-ever quarter.

Um bases his assumption on the preliminary first quarter revenues for Multi-Fineline Electronix (MFLX), a manufacturer of flexible printed circuit boards for products including the iPhone and iPad. MFLX also says that it saw an increase in shipments from its largest key customer, which Um believes to be Apple.

Those results follow others that indicate that Apple's first quarter (October - December) may be incredibly good. Verizon noted "better than expected iPhone shipments" last week, AT&T touted strength in iPhone sales last month and Cirrus Logic (which makes analog chips for iPad and iPod) reported better results this week. In addition, Dialog Semi, Catcher (makes the metal casings for Macs), TPK (maker of iPad 2 touch panels), and Hon Hai (assembles iPhones and iPads) all reported strong December results.

As usual, TUAW is liveblogging the Apple results call on the afternoon of January 24, so be sure to join us to hear the news.

Apple supplier data suggests great holiday sales originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple supplier data suggests great holiday sales originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Of the 20 companies covered by Ticonderoga, Apple was the best performer with a growth rate of 26 percent. Ticonderoga analyst Brian White was quoted on AppleInsider as saying "We believe Apple's portfolio in 2012 has the opportunity to crete more excitement around the story with our expectation for the unveiling of iTV, an 'iPad mini' and a major upgrade with the iPhone 5, while we expect the company to finally come to grips with its surging cash balance and issue its first cash dividend."

The possibility of a cash dividend to shareholders was roundly dismissed by late Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2010, as the company has preferred in the past to hold onto cash reserves to take advantage of "strategic opportunities."

White isn't the only Wall Street analyst painting a rosy picture for AAPL in 2012. Longtime Apple bull Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray sees growth in almost every Apple product segment with the exception of the iPod. Munster thinks that the next-generation iPhone will have a slightly larger screen and will launch in late summer or early fall. Munster also believes that an Apple television will become a reality this year, and that the company might supplant a new third-generation iPad with a lower-priced entry as well.

Apple stock named top pick for 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple stock named top pick for 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday's announcement by AT&T that it's well on the way to selling a record number of smartphones -- many of which are most likely the iPhone 4S -- was encouraging to Wall Street analysts who are now bumping up their estimates of just how many of the phones Apple may sell in the December quarter.

According to AllThingsD, two of the most bullish analysts are Brian White from Ticonderoga, who thinks Apple is on track to sell 29.9 million iPhones in the quarter, and BTIG Research's Walter Piecyk, who one-upped White with an estimate of 30 million. Piecyk made his optimistic statement back in August, before the iPhone 4S was even announced, so it will be impressive indeed if his crystal ball proves to be the most accurate.

Those 29.9 million iPhone sales predicted by White represent an 84 percent increase over the previous quarter ending September 30, 2011. iPhone sales were down from analyst estimates for that quarter, primarily because many consumers held off on purchasing so that they could get the next big thing from Apple.

Shaw Wu from Stern Agee raised his estimate of iPhone sales from 26 million to 28 million, while Maynard Um of UBS went completely bullish and changed his number from 28 million to 30 million. Um thinks sales could be even higher than that, based on unprecedented demand in the Asia Pacific region.

None of this, of course, is going to surprise Apple CEO Tim Cook, who stated during the October earnings call that "We're very confident that we will set an all-time record in the December quarter for iPhone sales. We -- in our wildest dreams, we couldn't have gotten off to a start as great as we have on the 4S."

iPhone sales estimates creeping up from Wall Street analysts originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone sales estimates creeping up from Wall Street analysts originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As reported on AppleInsider, White watches the "Apple Barometer," an index of Taiwanese suppliers who make the components for Apple's products. Over the last six years, the barometer has shown an average two percent month over month growth.

The numbers for November were huge, with supply chain sales up a full 17 percent over those for October. The October numbers were a bit lower than usual due to Apple ordering many Macs, iPad 2s, and iPhone 4S units during the previous quarter, and that was reflected in the lower Apple stock prices seen in November.

In the last quarterly earnings conference call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer told analysts that he expected Apple to set new company records for iPhone and iPad sales during the December quarter. The Apple Barometer numbers seem to indicate that Oppenheimer's forecast was right on the money, and Apple's stock should move higher as a result.

Report suggests Apple had best November ever originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Report suggests Apple had best November ever originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PC sales in Europe are dismal, according to a Gartner report that was highlighted in an early morning post on Gigaom. In fact, PC sales in the Western Europe market dropped 11.4 percent year-to-year to only 14.8 million units. That sounds like a cause for despair if you're a PC maker, but not if you're Apple.

Apple's sales in the same quarter actually rose by almost 20 percent year-to-year, bucking the trend that other PC manufacturers are seeing. Taiwanese PC manufacturer Acer was particularly hard hit by the slide in PC sales, seeing a year-to-year drop in sales of over 45 percent for the third quarter of 2011. Much of that drop is attributable to a lack of demand for netbooks -- possibly due to the increased mindshare of tablets -- and inventory issues.

The Gartner report, written by analyst Meike Escherich, notes that arch-rivals Apple and Samsung stand to improve their respective positions in the Western European market in the future. According to Escherich, "With brand becoming more important as buying criterion in the PC market both of these vendors have a strong PC and cross device proposition. This will enable them to tackle the top three even more in 2012."

In this horrible economy, it looks like it's a good time to be Apple.

Apple sales up in Europe, despite overall PC slide originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple sales up in Europe, despite overall PC slide originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the unsung heroes in the success of Apple over the past ten years or so has been the ability for the company to take control of manufacturing, procurement, and logistics of its products in ways that are completely innovative. In a Bloomberg Businessweek post yesterday, writers Adam Satariano and Peter Burrows did a deep dive into what makes Apple so successful in terms of operations -- an area where Apple CEO Tim Cook excels.

According to the article, Apple has "built a closed ecosystem where it exerts control over nearly every piece of the supply chain, from design to retail store. Because of its volume -- and occasional ruthlessness -- Apple gets big discounts on parts, manufacturing capacity, and air freight."

The supply-chain management success story apparently began when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. At that time, most computer manufacturers shipped their products by sea, which was much less expensive but also slower. Jobs wanted to ensure that the translucent blue iMacs that had just been introduced would be available for Christmas 1998, so he had the company pay $50 million to buy up all available holiday air freight space. Companies such as Compaq later tried to book air transport for holiday shipments, only to find that Apple had monopolized the space.

Apple's ability to manufacture a product and ship it right to a customer's door began with the iPod era, and an ex-Hewlett Packard exec recalls that an HP staffer bought one and received it a few days later, watching its progress from factory to home on Apple's website. Mike Fawkes, who was the supply-chain chief at HP, recalls that "it was an 'Oh s---' moment." By doing this, Apple was able to avoid keeping large inventories of product on hand

Apple also buys up speciality equipment, including customized lasers that are used to poke the almost-invisible holes that are used to emit a green dot of light on many of the company's products, including the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, as well as the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad. Those machines cost about $250,000 each, and Apple has bought literally hundreds of them to add a touch to its products that few people may notice.

The Bloomberg Businessweek article is a good read, and fascinating for anyone who has an interest in what goes on behind the scenes at Apple.

Exploring Apple's supply chain secrets originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Exploring Apple's supply chain secrets originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple reported its quarterly earnings earlier this week, and the results were lower than many Wall Street watchers expected (even though Apple beat its own revenue guidance by more than 12%). This miss was widely reported and Apple's stock took a hit -- AAPL dropped from above 420 before the announcement to under 400 on Thursday afternoon. But whose fault is this negative perception? Is it Apple's failure to perform this past quarter, or analysts' overenthusiastic predictions that led to this situation?

According to Fortune contributor Andy Zaky, this foible is only a minor blip created by analysts whose predictions were off the chart. Zaky points out that Apple, in the past, has reported revenue that was about 12-18% above guidance. Analysts used this historical information and issued a consensus estimate that was 5-10% above guidance. That's how it worked. Analysts would predict on the lower side, Apple would earn on the higher side and life was good.

This past quarter, though, analyst estimates had crept up to 18.8% ahead of guidance, while Apple's reported earnings were 13% above the company's guidance. Though Apple's earnings fell within the normal 12 to 18% over guidance, analysts got ahead of themselves and overestimated Apple's performance. And it's their own fault, says Zaky. Apple repeatedly warned analysts this was going to be a transitional quarter, but analysts failed to listen.

[Via The Loop]

Apple's earnings "miss" more an issue with overzealous analysts originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's earnings "miss" more an issue with overzealous analysts originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During yesterday's Q4 2011 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook spent a lot of time talking about just how important China is to Apple's future. Cook called the company's progress in China "amazing," and a look at the numbers shows exactly what he's talking about.

The greater China region, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, accounted for 12 percent of Apple's 2011 full-year revenue. The figure for fiscal year 2009 was only 2 percent, which indicates a huge growth rate for a single region. Cook referred to greater China as Apple's "fastest-growing region by far."

In the fourth quarter, China was responsible for US$4.5 billion in revenue -- that's a full 16 percent of the $28.7 billion in total revenue reported by Apple. By comparison, the European region contributed $7.4 billion to Apple's total revenue, so the China region is essentially providing 60 percent of what Europe is.

Apple is helping to fuel the growth, with six Apple Stores now in greater China that are all at the top of the company's list of most-visited and highest-grossing locations. Cook expressed Apple's interest in the region when he stated that "In my lifetime I've never seen a country with as many people rising into the middle class aspiring to buy products that Apple makes. It's an area of enormous opportunity. It has quickly become No. 2 on our lists of top revenue countries very, very quickly."

China has become Apple's second-most important market originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

China has become Apple's second-most important market originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone revenues and unit sales for Apple's last quarter dropped significantly compared to the previous quarter. Revenues from iPhone sales declined by 18 percent, while unit sales dropped 16 percent -- a sell-through decline of 2.4 million units over the previous quarter. During the recent quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook and other Apple executives confirmed the main cause of the decline: rumors.

Apple believes the explosion of iPhone rumors during the latter half of the last quarter materially contributed to the decline in iPhone sales over the quarter. Coupled with pent-up demand for a new model of iPhone after Apple unexpectedly didn't refresh the line at WWDC, this amounted to a US$2.3 billion reduction in revenue from iPhone sales over the quarter.

This is the first time that I can recall Apple publicly admitting the impact rumors have had on its bottom line, and that impact appears to have been substantial. Even Gizmodo's early outing of the iPhone 4's design failed to make much (if any) dent in iPhone sales in the quarter preceding the iPhone 4's launch in 2010, but endless speculation about a supposed iPhone 5 launch apparently drove customers to hold off on iPhone purchases in anticipation of a new model.

The good news for Apple is that record-breaking sales of the iPhone 4S may have already offset its lost revenue from last quarter. With four million handsets sold in just the first three days after its launch, sales of the iPhone 4S are likely to drive Apple's holiday quarter iPhone sales beyond anything seen thus far.

Whether the situation will repeat in 2012 is anyone's guess. The rumor mill is unlikely to stop churning, but hopefully next year it won't cost Apple so much in lost sales in the process.

iPhone sales dip last quarter largely due to rumors originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone sales dip last quarter largely due to rumors originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thanks for joining us here for running commentary and analysis of Apple's Q4 2011 earnings announcement.

We welcome your comments and questions, but please note that questions are moderated and will not necessarily appear in the liveblog content; also please note that TUAW cannot ask the Apple executives questions, as the call is reserved for financial analysts.

You can also listen in on the live earnings call via QuickTime streaming.

Liveblog: Apple Q4 2011 earnings call originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Liveblog: Apple Q4 2011 earnings call originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac sales in the quarter were 4.89 million; iPads were 11.12 million and iPhones came in at 17.07 million, even noting that the iPhone 4S did not arrive in time to impact the Q4 results.

For the full fiscal year 2011, revenues were $108B and earnings were $26B. Apple's stock closed today at $422.24, and is currently down to $404.50 in after-hours trading.

We'll be live at 5pm ET with our liveblog commentary on the Apple earnings call.

Full press release below.

Apple reports Q4 2011 earnings originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple reports Q4 2011 earnings originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After the market close today (4pm Eastern), Apple will announce quarterly earnings for its 2011 fiscal fourth quarter. Apple's fiscal year ended on September 25 (roughly aligned with the US federal government's fiscal year), which means that the all-important upcoming holiday quarter is actually Apple's Q1 of 2012.

As usual, the earnings guidance ($25 billion in revenue, $5.50 earnings per share) provided by Apple at the start of the quarter is likely to be almost comically conservative; Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 provides an overview of the results forecasts, and comes up with an estimated "whisper number" built atop the educated guesses of the non-pro analysts with the most consistent track record. The results, by their lights, should be somewhere north of $30B in revenue and $8 EPS. The psychological milestones of a non-holiday quarter with four million Macs and ten million iPads sold are almost certainly going to be passed as well.

At about 5pm ET, the company's executives will hop on their quarterly analyst call to discuss the results. We'll be here for live commentary and consideration, so set a reminder below and join us!

Note: TUAW does not provide financial or investment advice.

Reminder: Apple fourth quarter FY11 earnings announcement today originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reminder: Apple fourth quarter FY11 earnings announcement today originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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