Apple reports record profits; CEO says iPhone 5's screen size is perfect

Apple has reported the numbers for a very strong quarter. The sales of all devices were given a boost during the festive shopping period. Apple made a record $54.5 billion in revenue with a net profit of $13.1 billion.

There were specifics on the sales of the iPhone and the iPads. Apple said that it sold a record 47.8 million iPhones (all generations included) during the 13-week period ending Dec. 29, 2012. This is a steady increase from 37 million in the same quarter last year, which was a 12-week period. A record number again - 22.9 million iPads were purchased, up from 15.4 million during the corresponding quarter last year.

Apart from the big numbers, some very interesting information was shared as well. Apple's average weekly revenue is now $4.2 billion, an increase from $3.3 billion per week at the same time a year ago. Tim Cook, the CEO said, that half a billion iOS devices have been sold till date, with one selling every 10 seconds. He also said that 250 million users have signed up for iCloud, and 200 million iMessages are sent daily. Not just that, 2 billion apps were downloaded from the Apple App Store, garnering in a record (again, that word!) $2.1 billion for Apple. While we keep talking about the future Apple TV, Tim Cook reported at 2 million Apple TV boxes were sold in this quarter.

But all was not good news for the Cupertino giant. They sold 4.1 million Macs, which is lesser than the 5.2 million sold during the corresponding quarter last year. Apple blamed "significant restraints" for the decline in Mac sales. The iPod music player sales were also down to 12.7 million, from 15.4 million last year.

Despite all the record numbers being thrown around, Wall Street remains unimpressed, with Apple stocks tumbling by as much as 10%. Analysts had set the US$54.9 billion mark, which Apple narrowly missed.

Quite uncharacteristically, Tim Cook made it a point to touch upon the aspect of the iPhone display size. “We've put a lot of thinking into screen size and we think we've picked the right one,” Cook said, referring to the iPhone 5, when asked about the rumours suggesting that Apple is developing a larger display iPhone. “The new 4-inch Retina display is the most advanced display in the industry," he continued. "No one comes close to matching its quality. We were able to develop a larger screen size without sacrificing one-handed use."

This would suggest that Apple is not working on a bigger display iPhone, contrary to what the rumour mill would have you believe. However, we would not take this as engraved in stone, because Apple is more than capable of pulling a fast one!