Apple Looking To Top iPhone Sales Records This Holiday
(KCBS) -- Wall Street analysts have warmly greeted the latest blockbuster earnings report from Apple (AAPL), in which revenue soared above $51 billion.
It's all about the iPhone, and sales were strong in the recent quarter. CEO Tim Cook said he thinks the company can top last year's holiday quarter sales record of $75 million.
That led to Pacific Crest Securities raising Apple's stock rating to Overweight, on the belief that Apple's premium pricing will remain protected by Apple's brand, ecosystem, and the extraordinary utility of the iPhone.
iPad sales meanwhile plummeted, and Apple still isn't disclosing Watch sales.
Meanwhile, industry researcher IDC says that global smartphone shipments in the third quarter rose less than seven percent compared to a year ago, coming in below its initial forecast.
Still, it was the second strongest quarter ever for smartphones , with more than 355 million coming off the assembly line.
Apple's growth was much stronger than Samsung (, but the South Korean firm remained the leader at more than 84 million devices shipped.
