What's the best thing Apple makes? Money. The Cupertino giant cleared three billion dollars last quarter off about $13 billion in total revenue.
That's $3,000,000,000.00 in profit (and yes we counted the zeroes).
So there's great anticipation for Apple's latest earnings report, due on our desk Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. California time.
Of particular interest will be the iPad, which went on sale April 3. This will be the first time Apple's financial reports will contain iPad sales information. The device has been a runaway best seller for Apple.
The conference that follows the release will be the first opportunity financial analysts will have to question CEO Steve Jobs about the problems with the iPhone. While Jobs did discuss the issue Friday, actual analysts may have more pointed questions.
Website Mac Observer expects "big numbers from Apple including iPhone sales above 8 million units, as well as strong iPad and laptop sales". Fortune magazine points out that while Apple has jumped above Microsoft in total market cap*, its not gotten ahead of the Redmond behemoth in actual revenue. "If it doesn't happen this week, it will almost certainly come in the next quarterly announcement." says the magazine.
*Market cap, or capitalization is the total worth of a company as measured by the number of shares multiplied by the value of those shares. Apple investors have bid the company's share price up high enough that the total value tops Microsoft. Revenue refers to the amount of money a company is able to take in.
