iPhone銷量強勁 蘋果財報超預期

Apple turned in another quarter of enviable revenue and profit growth, fueled by sales of the iPhone, but more muted times may lie ahead.

在iPhone銷量的幫助下，蘋果再次交出令人羨慕的營收和利潤成績。但該公司未來的業績可能會相對遜色。

The company, the world’s most valuable, on Tuesday posted a profit of $11.1 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, up 31 percent from a year ago. Revenue was $51.5 billion, up 22 percent from last year. The results exceeded Wall Street estimates compiled by Bloomberg for earnings of $1.88 a share and $51 billion in revenue.

作爲全世界市值最高的公司，蘋果週二公佈，第四財務季度利潤111億美元，同比上漲31%。營收515億美元，同比增加22%。這樣的結果超出了華爾街預期的每股1.88美元的收益和510億美元的營收。華爾街的數據是由彭博(Bloomberg)整理的。

While the performance was bolstered by sales of the iPhone — the company said that it sold 48 million iPhones in the quarter, up from 39 million in the same period last year — Apple was more cautious about sales in the coming few months during the key holiday sales period.

蘋果稱該季度賣出了4800萬部iPhone，與去年同期的3900萬部相比有所增加。儘管iPhone的銷量支撐了業績表現，但接下來幾個月將進入關鍵的假日銷售期，蘋果對這期間的銷售數據更爲謹慎。

For its fiscal first quarter, Apple said revenue would be $75.5 billion to $77.5 billion. That would be up from $74.6 billion a year earlier, but below Wall Street estimates of $77 billion at the low end.

在第一財季，蘋果稱營收將在755億到775億美元。這個數字和一年前的746億美元相比有所增加，但仍低於華爾街預測的770億美元下限。

The forecast follows a busy period of new product introductions for Apple. In late September, Apple introduced its newest iPhone models, the 6s and 6s Plus. It also announced a larger iPad, the iPad Pro, and will begin shipping a new Apple TV this week.

預測數據出爐前的一段時間，蘋果頻繁推出新產品。9月末，蘋果推出了最新款的iPhone 6s和iPhone 6s Plus。此外，蘋果還發布了一款屏幕更大的iPad型號iPad Pro。本週，新款Apple TV也將開始出貨。

“We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product lineup yet,” Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a statement.

“我們正以史上最強的產品陣容進入假日季，”蘋果首席執行官蒂莫西·D·庫克(Timothy D. Cook)在一份聲明中說。

The outlook may fuel investor questions. In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s earnings announcement, analysts had expressed concern that the iPhone 6, which came out last year, had set such a high bar for sales that customers would not upgrade to the newest models at a rate fast enough to generate significant growth.

這樣的前景可能會引發投資者的疑問。在週二公佈收益之前的幾周，分析人士表示了擔憂，認爲去年推出的iPhone 6銷量太高，消費者升級至最新款iPhone的速度不會太快，不能帶來顯著的增長。

“With the battle on in the high-end smartphone market, Apple needs to prove it still has fuel in the tank with 6s and needs to show a strong growth trajectory heading into holiday season,” Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said in an interview.

“在高端智能手機市場上戰火熊熊之際，蘋果需要用6s證明自己的油箱裏還有燃料，需要表明強勁的增長可以延續到假日季，”FBR資本市場公司(FBR Capital Markets)分析師丹尼爾·艾夫斯(Daniel Ives)在接受採訪時說。

The region that Apple calls Greater China remained the company’s second-largest market after the Americas, accounting for 24 percent of sales in the quarter, compared with 13.7 percent a year ago. Investors are scrutinizing the China business given that the country has been cutting interest rates to shore up a slowing economy.

被蘋果稱作大中華區的地區，仍是其僅次於美洲的第二大市場，貢獻了24%的銷量，而一年前這個比例是13.7%。考慮到中國一直在通過降息來支撐日漸放緩的經濟，投資者對中國市場的表現頗爲關注。

Apple said that iPad sales fell 20 percent from a year ago, making it the seventh consecutive quarter that sales of the tablet have declined. The company is increasingly positioning the iPad as a business device.

蘋果稱，iPad銷量與一年前相比下降了20%。這是其銷量連續第七個季度下跌。該公司正日益把iPad定位爲商務設備。

The company did not break out sales of the Apple Watch, which debuted in April. But the category within which the watch is grouped posted $3 billion in revenue in the quarter and Apple said the device helped fuel sales. .

蘋果公司未公佈4月問世的Apple Watch的銷量。但該產品所屬類別的營收是30億美元，且蘋果稱Apple Watch幫助帶動了銷售。

Apple also said that it would pay investors a cash dividend of 52 cents a share. Over the last few years, Apple has taken advantage of low interest rates to borrow billions of dollars that it has redistributed to shareholders in the form of dividend payments and stock buybacks.

蘋果還表示將向投資者發放每股52美分的現金分紅。過去幾年，蘋果利用低利率大量借債，並以分紅和股票回購的形式將這些錢再分配給股東。