Apple reports record quarterly earnings

     SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Apple Inc. on Wednesday reported record second fiscal¹ quarter results that blow out analysts³'（分析师）expectations, citing strong demands for its products.

    For its fiscal 2011 second quarter ended on March 26, Apple posted net income of 5.99 billion U.S dollars or 6.4 dollars per share, compared with 3.07 billion, or 3.33 dollars per share a year ago. Its revenue reached 24.67 billion dollars, compare with 13.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.

    Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters gave an average estimate of 5.35 dollars earning per share on revenue of 23.3 billion.

    "With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we're firing on all cylinders," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We will continue to innovate⁴ on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year."As the most valuable business for the company, Apple sold 18.65 million iPhones in the second quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. In February, Apple announced that iPhone4 would come on Verizon network, enabling it to attract some 90 million Verizon subscribers to adopt the popular smartphone.

    The company sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter, a 28 percent increase over the year-ago quarter, and 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

    The company also sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter, which is below analysts' projection⁵. Analysts said Apple could have sold more tablets without supply constraints⁶.

    Wall Street analysts estimated sales of iPad to reach about 6 million in the fiscal second quarter, alongside about 16 million iPhones and 3-4 million Macs.

    Apple also reported a gross margin⁷ of 41.4 percent compared to 41.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. Analyst² said the decline of Apple's gross margins⁸ can be attributed to two reasons. One reason is the introduction of iPad in 2010 as it is a lower gross margin product than the iPhone. The other is the decline of iPhone margins over years.

    Supply chain related issues have been analysts' concern in the past quarter as Apple indicated in the Q1 earnings⁹ conference call that it could have sold more iPhones and faced some supply related issues. Meanwhile, the Japanese earthquake created more supply related issues for the company as its Japanese suppliers Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Toshiba are both temporarily shut down to assess damage from the natural disaster.

    For the third fiscal quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer gave an estimated revenue of about 23 billion and profit of 5.03 dollars per share.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

5 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

6 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

8 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。