In the days leading up to Apple's special event, the company released its most recent quarterly results, which it was proud to boast as being the all-time highest in revenue and profit.
Apple posted revenue of $15.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $11.88 billion and net quarterly profit of $2.26 billion, or $2.50 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.9 percent, up from 37.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Apple sold 3.36 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter; sold 8.7 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 100 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter; and sold 21 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
"If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company," said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about."
Stay tuned for coverage of Apple's reveal of a new product at tomorrow's event.