Apple iPhone Sales Drive FQ2 Profit up 33 Percent, Revenue Spikes 27 Percent

Here’s a clue about Apple’s (AAPL) industry dominance. In the six months since the iPhone maker introduced its two newest flagship models, revenue has climbed by about $29 billion over the same period last year, an amount similar to the annual sales generated each by IT stalwarts Qualcomm (QCOM), Nokia (NOK) and Sharp.

So, in revenue terms, half an Apple is more than a full year for those highly respected and prominent companies.

In its FQ2, Apple again blew away analysts’ expectations in revenue, earnings and iPhone sales, and met revenue forecasts for the Mac. Only with the iPad did Apple disappoint. The vendor even exceeded its own estimated range for gross margin at 40.8 percent from an expected high end of 39.5 percent.

For the quarter, Apple’s revenue spiked 27 percent to $58 billion from $45.7 billion a year ago, while its net income rose 33 percent to $13.6 billion from the $10.2 billion it recorded last year. Earnings per share (EPS) climbed to $2.33, from a split-adjusted $1.66.

Analysts expected $56.1 billion in sales and EPS of $2.16.

Apple’s worldwide iPhone sales advanced 40 percent from last year, as the vendor sold 61.2 million iPhones in the period, or 4 million more units than analysts predicted. Much of the growth is coming from overseas. For example, in China, iPhone sales jumped 40 percent, in Mexico 80 percent, in South Korea 100% and in the U.S. 20 percent.

“We’re seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we’ve experienced in previous cycles, and we’re off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple chief executive.

On the down side, the iPad continues to disappoint, as quarterly sales fell 23 percent in the quarter to 12.6 million units, far below the 13.9 million analysts expected.

Still, Cook continued to say, as he has for the better part of a year, that iPad sales “will come back,” as he told CNBC. He still isn’t saying when or how other than to point to enterprise sales as the tablet’s possible lily landing pad.

Mac unit sales again were a bright spot for Apple, rising 10 percent year-over-year to 4.6 million units and matching expectations.

For FQ3, Apple projected revenue of $46 million to $48 million and gross margins of 38.5 percent to 39.5 percent.

Apple also increased its share-buyback program by $50 billion to $140 billion, in total now pledging to return some $200 billion to shareholders through repurchases and dividends by March, 2017. The vendor also upped its dividend by 11 percent.