iPhone 6 sales boost Apple Q4 earnings

Apple has a lot if tricks up its sleeves.Creative Commons

Apple Inc. reportedly recorded a 13 percent rise in its fourth-quarter earnings compared to the same period last year, thanks to the iPhone 6 sales.

BBC reported that the profits of the technology giant based in Cupertino, California exceeded the expectations of financial analysts.

The total iPhone sales alone hit 39.2 million units during its first few days on the market.  The company recorded a quarterly revenue of $42.1 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.5 billion, up from a total revenue of $37.5 billion and net profit of $7.5 billion in the same quarter last year.

"Our fiscal 2014 was one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus," Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook mentioned during the company's earnings report update. He also said that the company is positive that the sales will increase in the coming holiday season.

The demand for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus is record breaking. In its first nine days alone, the devices were already flying out of the shelves in almost all the U.S. network carriers and retail markets in the country.

T-Mobile alone recorded an additional 1.4 million subscribers during the first months of the iPhone 6 release. Other network carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T recorded a significant increase in the number of subscribers with iPhone 6 devices as well.

In another report, Forbes pointed out that the iPhone 6 sales figures is responsible for the 10 percent increase in the U.S. economic growth.  According to the report, from the time the new iPhones rolled out, consumers have been ordering and purchasing the units at a rate high enough to cause ripples in the economy.  "The ripple effects are being felt throughout the economy," as the financial publication puts it, and its effects in the movement of the stock market have also been observed.

Meanwhile, the iPad experienced a different fate compared to the other Apple product. Reportedly, the company only sold 12.3 million units of the tablets this quarter. This is a disappointing number compared to the same period last year, which reached 14.1 million units sold.  However, Cook was still positive despite the dismal iPad sales turnout.

"I view it as a speed bump, not a huge issue. That said, we want to grow. We don't like negative numbers on these things," the Apple CEO told analysts. "Over the long arc of time, my own judgement is that iPad has a great future.