Posted January 24, 2013 by Eric Shirey in Technology

Apple’s Results Fails to meet Expectation for Third Straight Quarter

Northern, WI 1/24/2013 (avauncer) - Mobile Technology Pioneer Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted their fourth quarter results that had failed to meet the analyst’s estimates; while this is not the first time, it fell short of estimates for the third straight quarter. This gave investors and analysts negative signals about the growth of the company and its share prices. Summary of the results are

Net Income of the current quarter is reported as $13.07 billion as against $13.06 billion in the previous year, closing almost flat.
Revenue for the quarter stood at $54.5 billion which is 18% more than the previous quarter; however this number is short from the estimated amount of $54.73 billion.
Earnings per share are one measure that overtook the estimates and was $13.81 against 13.47 estimated numbers.
A record of 47.8 million I phones were shipped during the quarter ended December 2012, 29 percent more than the previous year, but was estimated to cross the 50 Million mark.
Sale of I pad stood at 22.9 Million which was in line with the estimates.

There are serious questions in the minds of the investors about the future steps that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is going to adopt to boost sales and also to face the stiff competition from other players in the market. They feel that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is no longer the leading runner in mobile technology. The main problem underlying the company is it failed to meet customer expectation. Also, it is also threatened by the growth of Samsung(KRX: 005935) and Google’s Android (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Good news coming for the company that it has doubled its sale of I pad in China and it is focused to increase it further. But, there is a worry, that demand of Iphone and I pad would decrease as there is a production cut back in the Asian countries, as Apple (NASDAQ:GOOG) is dependent on Asian countries for its manufacture of Mobile communication devices. However the fundamentals of the company are strong with $137.1 billion in cash and this has been increasing over time.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares roseabout 1.83% and closed at $ 514.01 at the close of trade on Wednesday, while the shares of the competitor Samsung (LON: BC94) increased 2.3% at the London Stock Exchange and that of Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) increased 5.5% trading at $741 per share.

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Eric Shirey

Eric Shireya is a former newspaper section editor and reporter who has been reporting on Fashion and Lifestyle for about 10 years. His work has been published in national business trade magazines, and can be found on wire services, in daily newspapers, in university alumni magazines, on the web, in newsletters, and more. His career highlights have included interviewing Bob Hope, laughing through a phone conversation with Richard Simmons, chatting with Melissa Etheridge, and enduring a press conference in a hot air balloon.