Apple Q109 Results Best Ever: $1.21bn In Profit

Apple's first-quarter financial results are in, and rival firms may be gutted to see that it's been the Cupertino company's best ever Q1 revenue and earnings.  Thanks to healthy iPod and iPhone sales, revenue for the three-month period climbed to $8.16bn, resulting in a net quarterly profit of $1.21bn; up from $7.51bn and $1.05bn respectively in Q1 2008.

After the cut: key Apple sales breakdowns, and why Tim Cook thinks netbooks are "junky"

Sales of Macs fell 3-percent over Q1 2008, at 2.22m, but Apple sold 11.01m iPods – 3-percent growth – and 3.79m iPhones; that makes a 123-percent unit growth of the company's cellphone over the year-ago quarter.  Taking into account sales of subscription items for the iPhone and Apple TV, revenue and net profit rise to $9.06bn and $1.66bn respectively.

Apple then took the opportunity to shoot down the persistent netbook rumors.  Speaking in the company's financial conference call, Tim Cook described today's breed of netbook hardware as "junky" and not something they would currently put the Mac brand on:

"For us it's about doing great products. When I'm looking at what's sold in the Netbook market, I see cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screen, bad software. Not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on. As it exists today, we're not interested in nor would it be something customers would be interested in the long term. We are looking at the space. For those who want a small computer that does browsing/email, they might want an iPhone or iPod Touch. If we find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, we'll do that. We have some interesting ideas" Tim Cook