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You don't compare numbers against the previous quarter, you compare numbers against the same quarter, the previous year. Apple's gross margin this quarter was

• Steko 15y ago
  That's not always accurate, Apple's Q4 2011 and Q3 2011 are fine to compare here, the product mix particularly phones and ipads shipped are much closer then Q4 2011 and Q4 2010.
  • chugger 15y ago
    timing of product launches doesn't matter. In finance investors always compare year over year to evaluate the performance of their investments.
    • Steko 15y ago
      He's not evaluating the performance of an investment, he's asking why the margin is different which is generally a product mix question.
      • chugger 15y ago
        same thing applies. year-over-year comparisons are more accurate.
        • Steko 15y ago
          Not always and certainly not in this case.
• phil 15y ago
  That's true of revenue, but as far as I know there's not as much annual cyclicity for margins.
  • DrJokepu 15y ago
    I don't know much about consumer product sales, but I wouldn't think that it's entirely impossible that different products have somewhat different seasonal sales patterns.
    • erikpukinskis 15y ago
      People buy lots of laptops in August/September for back to school. People buy lots of iPods in December for gifts. People buy lots of iPhones in whatever quarter they launch a new iPhone in.
• chugger 15y ago
  @phil it's true for all numbers.
  • gry 15y ago
    Why? Genuinely curious.