ANKARA
Tech giant Apple has reported an increase in quarterly revenue of 27 percent to $58 billion on Monday, beating market expectations, after selling 61.2 million iPhones from January through March.
Apple also reported a net profit of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per share, nearly $3.6 billion more than total net profits of the Turkish banking sector ($10 billion) in 2014.
This is compared to revenue from the same quarter last year of $45.6 billion and profit of $10.2 billion, or $1.66 per share.
The company’s sales in China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, rose by 71 percent to $16.8 billion surpassing the U.S. market for the first time.
“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone,” said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "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.”
However, Apple saw a dip in some sales; it sold 12.6 million iPads in the quarter, compared with 16.4 million tablets a year ago.
Apple on Monday also said it increased its share-buying program to $140 billion from $90 billion, and is also raising its dividend to shareholders.
The company’s cash on its books stood at $195 billion as of the end of the quarter. The tech giant also said that it increased its capital return program to $200 billion from $130 billion.
For the current quarter, Apple forecast revenue between $46 - $48 billion, and estimated operating expenses at between $5.65 and $5.75 billion.
