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Apple's Asia-Pacific profits reportedly soaring
Apple might be growing in the US thanks to brisk sales of the MacBook Air and the expansion of the iPhone 4 to Verizon Wireless, but in Asia-Pacific, the Cupertino company is exploding. Over the past five years, Apple's revenue has climbed from US$14 billion in 2005 to $64 billion in 2010. During that time, international revenue grew a staggering 727%, while US revenue grew 268%. Profit showed a similar trend with Asia-Pacific increasing by a whopping 2,991% in the last five years. US profit also grew, but only at a comparatively small rate of 682%.
This upward trend is expected to continue in the current 2011 fiscal year. Last year, Apple reported $8.25 billion in sales to the Asia-Pacific region. We are half way through this year and Apple has already reached $5 billion in sales. Its sales are expected to quadruple year-over-year, and Apple hasn't even tapped into China's lucrative mobile phone market.
Apple sells the iPhone through China Unicom, which has 170 million subscribers (a number that pales in comparison with 600 million subscribers on China Mobile). Overall, China has over 900 million mobile phone users. If Apple could produce an iPhone for China Mobile and China Telecom, its resulting revenue and profits could go off the charts.
