Rich Fiscus
23 Jan 2008 17:11
Despite increased sales and an increased profit margin over the year before, Apple's stock ended the day down more than 3% on Tuesday after the company reported both earnings for the last three months of 2007, which is actually Apple's first quarter of fiscal 2008, and a sales forecast for this quarter.
Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe attribute's Apple's excellent performance during last year's Christmas shopping season as the result of months of preparation and product positioning. "Basically, they had all their ducks in a row well before the holiday shopping season started," he said. "That's really the key to success during a holiday season. It sounds simple, but a lot of companies screw it up. People knew what the products were, where to buy them, and then they went out a bought them."
Interestingly, last quarter's record revenue was fueled by sales of more expensive products, like the 16GB iPod Touch. If that trend continues actual revenues may prove to be be closer to what Wall Street analysts were expecting prior to Apple's Tuesday announcement.