Apple blames European sales and iPhone 5 rumours for missing earnings target

Q3 revenue was $35bn, $1bn less than forecast

Apple has blamed its European sales and iPhone 5 rumours for missing its forecasted Q3 profits by $1bn (£650m).

The company posted quarterly revenue of $35bn (£22.5bn) and quarterly net profit of $8.8bn (£5.7bn) or $9.32 (£6) per diluted share, which refers to the effect of adding more shares to a pool of traded stock.

Although these results compare well to the previous year's Q3 revenue of $28.6bn (£18.4bn) and net profit of $7.3bn (£4.7bn), it was still $1bn less than forecasted.

The Californian-based company sold 26 million iPhones in Q3, which was a 28 per cent unit growth year on year, but still nine million fewer than it sold in Q2.

"Our weekly iPhone sales continue to be impacted by rumours and speculation regarding new products," said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer on the earnings call, referring to widespread speculation about the next version of the iPhone.

Apple CEO Tim Cook added: "I'm fairly convinced, based on what I've seen, that there is an incredible anticipation out there for future products."

Cook's comment chimes with Computing's discovery of a Chinese e-commerce site offering an upfront purchase amount of 6688 yuan (£679) for a pre-ordered iPhone 5, complete with projected specs.

Reports have also emerged about a "mini-iPad" which is apparently to launch in the autumn.

Another factor in the firm missing its earnings targets was Apple's performance in Europe, said Cook, with the UK "solid" at 30 per cent revenue growth, but other western European countries faring less well.

On the enterprise front, Oppenheimer said that the number of iPhones in the Fortune 500 has more than doubled in the past year.