Apple may disappoint investors today with fiscal fourth-quarter results that show weaker sales of its key iPad and iPhone product lines.
This is the first quarter to include sales of Apple's iPhone 5, but only a few days' worth. The iPhone 5 launched September 21, and Apple's fourth quarter ended September 29. We already know Apple sold 5 million phones in its first weekend, so tomorrow's numbers will fill in the remaining days; Apple, however, does not break down its iPhone sales by model.
Analysts expect Apple to have sold a little more than 25 million iPhones during the entire quarter. That would be close to the same number Apple sold in the previous quarter, and up around 46 percent from the same period last year. One thing to keep in mind on that front is that last year's iPhone 4S debuted in October, which was well into Apple's first quarter of 2012.
As for the iPad, Apple actually provided an early peek into its tablet numbers during yesterday's iPad Mini unveiling, saying it has sold 100 million iPads cumulatively. In a note this morning, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu noted that this puts Apple's tally for the quarter below 16 million.
Source: CNET Photo: Joe Ravi