Investors' fascination with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) was vindicated when the country's most valuable tech company delivered another amazing quarter.
Let's dive into the numbers -- and I'm not talking about the revenue and earnings that Apple routinely crushes.
- Mac unit sales climbed 14%.
- iPhone sales grew 142% to top 20 million during the quarter.
- iPad sales soared 183%.
Companies this big aren't supposed to be growing this fast, yet here's Apple sprinting like a seasoned marathoner against a field of sloths. The scary thing is that Apple may simply be scratching the surface. Sales in China grew sixfold during the quarter, and who knows how overseas markets will respond if Apple comes through on the rumored release of an entry-level smartphone.
Sadly, I've never owned Apple. I guess there are only two kinds of people in the world: Those who own shares of Apple, and those kicking themselves because they don't.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) posted better-than-expected quarterly results and announced that PayPal will be available as a point-of-sale solution at as many as 20 national retail chains by the end of next year. Ka-ching!
- Talk about an even-Steven IPO. Skullcandy (Nasdaq: SKUL) went public at $20 on Wednesday and closed at exactly $20 after an initial pop. The edgy headphone maker then opened at $20 on Thursday before closing at $19.50. The volume knob went the wrong way, but just a little.
- Giving Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) social-networking site a corporate boost, Dell's (Nasdaq: DELL) Michael Dell posted on Google+ asking users whether they'd like to use Hangouts, the site's video-chat feature, for customer service on Dell.com. The Googleplex check's in the mail, Michael. Seriously, though, kudos to Big G.
- Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) will begin letting students rent textbooks in e-book form for its Kindle readers for as much as 80% off. At least three major textbook companies are onboard. Given the chunky margins to be had in the realm of digital distribution, I guess they all read Economics 101.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
