Despite posting results most companies would be happy to report, such as "average weekly growth of 19 percent, Apple's quarterly results do not answer any of the strategic questions observers now have about the company.
What is the "next big thing" to drive Apple sales and customer delight?
Can Apple create yet another big new market? Perhaps most importantly, has Apple lost the creative edge and become a "normal company" with a "normal growth rate?
In fact, some think single-digit growth rates are where Apple is headed, in perhaps five years.
Nor, it appears, will it be possible to resolve any of those questions until perhaps September 2013, or possibly even 2014, when Apple says it will launch the next round of new products. "Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services that we can’t wait to introduce this fall and throughout 2014," CEO Tim Cook said.
And while the big strategic questions are not narrowly financial, financial performance is an issue. Gross margin was 37.5 percent compared to 47.4 percent in the year-ago quarter, for example.
Apple estimates its gross profit margin will dip a bit further in the next quarter, and the company faces sharply declining rates of growth. Questions about Apple strategy also revolve around the likely impact on margins if lower-cost iPhones, despite the company's denials, are launched, as is the case for lower-cost iPads as well.
International sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter’s revenue, and growth was driven by the iPhone and iPad. Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
Apple also sold 19.5 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 11.8 million in the year-ago quarter.
By way of comparison, sales of sold just under four million Macs, compared to four million in the same quarter of 2012 show a slight decline.
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