IQE Share News (IQE)

The rapid growth of Apple as a powerhouse global brand continued in the second quarter of 2009, with the trendy consumer electronics firm reporting sales above market expectations.Revenue in the April to June quarter rose 12% from a year earlier to $8.34bn, topping market expectations of sales of $8.2bn. Growth was driven by strong sales of the iPhone, and also a resurgence of interest in Apple Mac computers, where sales grew 4% year on year.Sales of the iPhone were boosted by the launch of the iPhone 3GS in June, which as well as having all the features that got gadget freaks excited when the first iPhone was released also introduced features long since considered standard by competing products, such as copy and paste.Apple said its production facilities have been unable to meet demand for the new iPhone suggesting that, for once, Apple, famed for charging premium prices for its products, had pitched the price too low."The 3Gs launch and price cuts only occurred in the last month, so we would expect this growth to continue into the summer," predicted UK stockbroker Singer Capital Markets. Sales of the Mac hit record levels, rising to 2.6m units, though revenue from computer sales fell almost 8%, partly reflecting the company's decision to release a range of more competitively priced Macs in June.Sales of the iPod phone fell to 10.2m units from 11m in the second quarter of 2008, with the company suggesting that with so many of the iPod's features replicated on the iPhone, the success of the iPhone might have dented demand for the iPod.Profit after tax rose 15% to $1.23bn from $1.07bn a year earlier, while earnings per share (EPS) grew to $1.35 from $1.19. The market had been expecting EPS of $1.17.Booming sales of the iPhone should prove good news for a number of British companies, most notably chip designer Imagination Technologies, in which Apple has a 9.5% stake, fellow chip designer ARM and semiconductor wager specialist IQE , all of which are reportedly suppliers to Apple."Robust demand for the 3Gs is particularly positive for Imagination as we estimate it currently generates c4x higher royalty levels than the old 3G (higher end core, no revenue share with ARM)," suggests Singer Capital Markets.