Apple's Q3 numbers: iPod sales mostly flat, Macs selling at record pace

Apple said in its quarterly earnings conference call Monday that it has shipped 2.5 million Macs in its fiscal third quarter, with the company hinting at a "product transition" to come during this quarter.

In typical Apple fashion, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer gave little details as to what the transition may be. The only hint was that the mystery product would cut into the company's gross margins.

Overall, Mac desktop sales rose 49 percent, while sales of portables rose 37 percent, marking a record quarter for the company. Some may find this surprising considering portables have traditionally been a faster growing segment recently -- both in the industry overall and at Apple. Apple doesn't, however, break down actual sales figures between desktops and portables.

Apple company stores are also doing well, posting revenues of $1.44 billion and traffic that was up 10 million in the quarter to 32 million. 476,000 Macs were sold in the stores, with over half being new to Apple.

Oppenheimer added that the company plans to open stores in Switzerland and Germany in the second half of the year, further increasing Apple's international retail presence.

Apple's revenues jumped 38 percent year-over-year to $7.46 billion, while profits rose 31 percent to $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per share. During the last quarter, the iPhone accounted for $419 million in revenues, the company said.

That figure will no doubt increase in the coming quarter, which includes the launch of the second-generation iPhone 3G. 20 new markets will also get the iPhone on August 22, with the remaining 30 preannounced markets joining that list by the end of the year.

The iPhone's App Store has proved to be a massive hit, with 25 million applications downloaded in just the 10 days after its launch. Over 900 apps now are included, with 90 percent below $10.

It should be noted when discussing iPhone sales that Apple will not post revenues as one lump sum, the company said. Rather, it will treat it as a subscription, spreading the revenues out over the expected 24-month lifecycle of the device.

This will result in revenues likely increasing at a far slower rate than one would anticipate, although at the same time it could also buoy Apple in later quarters where revenues in other divisions might be down.

Besides the record quarter for Macs, it sold 11,011,000 iPods, up 12 percent, and 717,000 iPhones, which was up from 270,000 in the year-ago quarter (it should be noted that the iPhone was only on sale for 2 days in Q3 of last year). Oppenheimer said that the growth in iPods were primary driven by sales of the Shuffle.

Apple is also refusing to discuss CEO Steve Jobs' health following his gaunt appearance at WWDC last month. After one analyst asked for more information, Oppenheimer returned, "Steve's health is a private matter."