iPhones, iPads drive Apple Dec quarter revenue to USD 57.6 bn

Record sales of iPhone and iPad pushed revenue of US-based Apple to USD 57.6 billion in the first quarter of FY14 but its profits remained flat amid fierce competition in the mobile handset market.
Its revenue in the second quarter is also expected to be lower in USD 42-44 billion range.
The California-based tech giant reported a flat net profit of USD 13.1 billion for the quarter ended December 28, 2013 compared to the same period in the previous year, while revenue grew 5.6 per cent from USD 54.5 billion in Q1 FY'13.
International sales accounted for 63 per cent of the quarter's revenue.

IPhones sales stood at an all-time quarterly record of 51 million units (compared to 47.8 million in the year-ago quarter), while iPads sales stood at 26 million (from 22.9 million).
It sold 4.8 million Macs compared to 4.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

"We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes, Software and Services," Apple CEO Tim Cook said.
He added the company will continue to invest heavily in improving experience of users with its products and services.
While Apple remains the most valuable and one of the most profitable tech companies, some analysts have raised concerns about the company being able to keep up with rivals like Samsung in the smartphone and tablet market.

According to research firm IDC, South Korean firm Samsung maintained a sizeable double-digit lead over the next vendor (Apple) in the smartphone sales tally. Samsung had a 31.3 per cent share with sales of 313.9 million units in 2013.
In the past year, vendors shipped a total of 1,004.2 million smartphones globally, up 38.4 per cent from 725.3 million units in 2012.
IDC said Apple had the "lowest year-on-year increase among all the leading vendors" despite posting record shipment volume during Q4 2013. Its share stood at 15.3 per cent (153.4 million units).