Apple gibt vorläufige Ergebnisse für das vierte Quartal bekannt

München, den 18. Oktober 2006 – Apple Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) hat heute die vorläufigen Ergebnisse des vierten Quartals im Geschäftsjahr 2006, das am 30. September 2006 endete, bekannt gegeben. Diese vorläufigen Ergebnisse können im Zuge der voraussichtlichen Anpassung der zurückliegenden Finanzergebnisse signifikant berichtigt werden.

Im zurückliegenden Quartal erzielte Apple einen Quartalsumsatz von 4,84 Milliarden US-Dollar sowie einen Netto-Gewinn von 546 Millionen US-Dollar bzw. 0,62 US-Dollar pro Aktie. Im Vorjahresquartal wurde ein Umsatz von 3,68 Milliarden US-Dollar bzw. ein Netto-Gewinn von 430 Millionen US-Dollar oder 0,50 US-Dollar pro Aktie erzielt. Die Bruttogewinnspanne lag bei 29,2 Prozent, im Vergleich zu 28,1 Prozent im Vorjahresquartal. Der Nicht-US-Anteil am Umsatz betrug in diesem Quartal 40 Prozent.

Apple hat im vierten Quartal des Fiskaljahres 2006 1.610.000 Rechner ausgeliefert, das entspricht einer Steigerung von 30 Prozent zum vergleichbaren Vorjahresquartal. 8.729.000 iPods sind in dem zurückliegenden Quartal verkauft worden, 35 Prozent mehr als in Q4/2005.

„Dieses starke Quartal krönt ein herausragendes Jahr für Apple. Über 39 Millionen verkaufte iPods und 5,3 Millionen verkaufte Macs - und das im Zeitraum eines technologisch höchst anspruchsvollen Wechsels der Hardwarearchitektur, ist eine Leistung, auf die wir alle sehr stolz sind," sagt Steve Jobs, CEO von Apple. "Vorausblickend wird 2007 eines der aufregendsten Jahre in Bezug auf neue Produkte in der Geschichte von Apple werden."

„Wir sind erfreut unser Geschäftsjahr mit über 10 Milliarden US-Dollar an freien Mitteln zu beenden und unseren Jahresumsatz innerhalb der letzten beiden Jahren um über 11 Milliarden US-Dollar gesteigert zu haben,“ ergänzt Peter Oppenheimer, Finanzchef von Apple. „Wir erwarten für das erste Fiskalquartal 2007 einen Umsatz zwischen 6,0 und 6,2 Milliarden US-Dollar. Gewinne pro verwässerter Aktie erwarten wir zwischen 0,70 bzw. 0,73 US-Dollar.“

As previously announced on October 4, 2006, an independent committee investigating Apple’s stock option practices has reported its findings, which are under review by the Company and its independent auditors. The investigation determined, among other things, that stock option grants made on 15 dates between 1997 and 2002 appear to have grant dates that precede the approval of those grants for accounting purposes. As a result, management continues to believe, and the audit committee agrees, that Apple will likely need to restate its historical financial statements to record non-cash charges for compensation expense and related cash and non-cash tax adjustments relating to past stock option grants. The Company and its independent auditors are reviewing accounting guidance regarding stock option grants recently published by the SEC, and have not yet determined the amount of such charges, the resulting tax and accounting impact, or which periods may require restatement. Under applicable accounting standards, such compensation expense generally reflects the difference between an option’s exercise price and the market price of the Company’s stock at the measurement date, the point at which the terms of the option grant were actually finalized. According to the recent SEC guidance, companies must evaluate stock option grants in light of all relevant facts, circumstances and patterns of conduct to determine whether grants were actually finalized on the stated grant dates. Evidence of a practice that certain grants were not finalized on the stated grant date may require a conclusion that the grant date is not the measurement date for other grants as well. Therefore, it is possible that the Company and its independent auditors could conclude that a larger number of grant dates than previously identified could have a measurement date that differs from the grant date, which could result in significant additional non-cash stock-based compensation expense. Such charges may result in material changes to the Company’s financial statements, including those covering the periods presented in this release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company’s estimated revenue and earnings per share and the potential for significant adjustments to the financial results included in this release. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include the outcome of the pending reviews described above and the likely restatement of the Company’s financial statements or results; the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; possible disruption in commercial activities caused by terrorist activity and armed conflict, such as changes in logistics and security arrangements, and reduced end-user purchases relative to expectations; possible disruption in commercial activity as a result of natural disasters or major health concerns including epidemics; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to successfully evolve its operating system; the potential negative ramifications of the transition of all Macs to Intel microprocessors; the ability of the Company to make timely delivery of new products with Intel microprocessors and related hardware and software technological changes and innovations to support Intel microprocessors; the development and availability on acceptable terms of components and services essential to enable the Company to deliver products based on Intel microprocessors in a timely manner; the continued availability on acceptable terms of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the ability of the Company to make timely delivery of new programs, products and successful technological innovations to the marketplace; the effect that product quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors and other resellers of the Company’s products; the Company’s reliance on the availability of third-party digital content; the Company’s dependency on third-party software developers to timely develop future applications that support Intel microprocessors and Power PC microprocessors; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; and risks associated with the Company’s retail initiative including significant investment cost, uncertain consumer acceptance and potential impact on existing reseller relationships. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 24, 2005, the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarters ended December 31, 2005 and April 1, 2006 and the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 1, 2006 and Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2006 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.