MacRumors

Research firm IDC today released its estimates on worldwide mobile phone sales for the third quarter of 2013, once again showing Apple's iPhone growth trailing that of the overall smartphone market. Apple's 33.8 million iPhone shipments were up 25.7% year-over-year, compared to 38.8% growth for the entire market. Market leader Samsung grew at slightly higher than the industry average, and Apple with its 13.1% share was able to hold onto the second-place ranking ahead of Huawei, Lenovo, and LG, all of which showed strong growth but remained at under 5% market share.

Apple's total volumes speak to the early success of the iPhones 5S and 5C, and the softening demand of older devices prior to the new models launching. The iPhone 5S lived up to the hype of the gold case and the fingerprint sensor, and the iPhone 5C with an array of colors. At the same time, limited usability on the fingerprint sensor and higher-than-expected pricing on the iPhone 5C drew mixed reactions. Still, this did not prevent Apple from enjoying a record 9 million units shipped in their debut.

As in previous quarters, Apple's performance in the overall mobile market benefited from the decline of the featurephone, with the company's 25.7% year-over-year growth easily topping the market's overall 5.7% growth and allowing Apple to remain firmly in third place behind Samsung and Nokia. According to IDC, smartphones accounted for 55% of total mobile phone shipments during the quarter, up from 42% in the third quarter of 2012.

Apple released its financial results for the third calendar quarter (fourth fiscal quarter) yesterday, revealing that the iPhone continues to account for majority of the company's revenue at 52 percent.

LG Display is reportedly close to a deal with Apple to provide OLED displays for the upcoming iWatch, according to The Korea Herald (via Unwired View). The report also states that RITEK subsidary RiTdisplay will be the other primary display supplier in addition to LG for the smartwatch. Samsung was also said to have met with Apple over becoming a potential supplier for the iWatch, but discussions between the two companies were reportedly "not productive". A report from May stated that Apple had begun sampling 1.5-inch OLED displays from RiTdisplay for the iWatch, as Apple had also hired a senior OLED expert from LG Display this past February.

“Instead of relying on one supplier for its iWatch, which will be unveiled next year, Apple will have two vendors to be safe. The key provider will be RiTDisplay and LG Display will be the second,” Seoul-based HMC Investment Securities’ analyst Kim Young-woo said. “Japan Display might also be a candidate, but so far its capacity seems lacking.”

Apple has been long rumored to be working on the iWatch, which is expected to serve as an accessory to the iPhone and other iOS devices, giving users easy at-a-glance access to common functions along with additional biometric integration. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated in Apple's fourth quarter earnings call yesterday that the company still plans on introducing new product categories within 2014, which is a likely timeframe for the release of the iWatch as previously indicated by sources of the Financial Times as well as supply chain insiders familiar with the matter.

Following today's fourth quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent an email (via 9to5Mac) to employees to thank them for their hard work and to invite them to an employee communications meeting that will be held on Tuesday, October 29.

In the email, Cook notes that he is "extremely proud" of the ongoing collaboration across the company, reporting that business at Apple "has never been stronger."

Team,

We've just posted financial results for fiscal Q4, including record-setting iPhone sales. I am happy to report that Apple's business has never been stronger, and we are heading into the holidays within amazing lineup led by the new iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, the stunning iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display. You and your teams work incredibly hard to deliver the very best products in the world, and our customers simply love them. I'm extremely proud of the collaboration going on across the company and everything we've accomplished as result of this great team effort.

Please join me for an employee communications meeting tomorrow at 9 AM Pacific time. The meeting will be broadcast to locations throughout Cupertino and Apple offices across the world. AppleWeb has a complete list of sites where you'll be able to watch live or see a replay in certain time zones. We've also created a link on AppleWeb where you can submit your questions in advance, and we'll do our best to answer as many as we can during the meeting. I look forward to hearing from you.

Tim

The meeting will be held at 9 AM Pacific Time in Cupertino, and broadcast to employees around the world via a live stream or replay. Apple will also be taking questions from employees, which can be submitted on the internal AppleWeb.

Apple today announced that it had sold a record-breaking 33.8 million iPhones during the September quarter, up from 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also announced a total of $37.5 billion in revenue, with a net quarterly profit of $7.5 billion or $8.26 per diluted share.

During today's fourth quarter earnings call, Tim Cook announced that Apple has completed a total of 15 "strategic" acquisitions during the course of fiscal 2013, which equates to one acquisition every three to four weeks.

Over the course of the year, Apple has focused on purchasing quite a few mapping companies, with the aim of improving its mapping services. Acquisitions have included Embark, HopStop, WifiSLAM, and Locationary.

Apple has also recently acquired data compression startup AlgoTrim, personal assistant app Cue, wireless chip developer Passif Semiconductor, and discovery and recommendation startup Matcha.tv.

While quite a few of Apple's acquisitions have been made public, a number of deals have clearly remained under the radar and may come to light as Apple works to unveil products in new categories over the course of 2014.

According to Tim Cook, Apple has "great products" coming in categories that Apple does not currently participate in, potentially alluding to its iWatch or upcoming advances in the television industry.

During today's fourth quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook commented on the Retina iPad mini, noting that it is unclear whether Apple will have enough supplies to meet demand for the tablet.

According to Cook, while Apple is aware of how many Retina iPad minis the company can produce, it is unclear how much demand will exist for the tablet. As noted by Apple during the Retina mini's second-generation introduction, a Retina display has been one of the most requested features for the tablet.

Multiple sources have suggested that the Retina iPad mini will be in short supply throughout 2013, which has been all but confirmed by Apple's nebulous November release date. According to a report from last week, following its November debut, Retina iPad mini supplies could be "ridiculously tight" until 2014. Cook did not offer any further information on a prospective launch date.

While supplies of the Retina iPad mini will be constrained, supplies of the iPad Air are expected to be more plentiful. When the iPad Air goes on sale on November 1, the company is expected to offer same day in-store pickup for orders. On account of high quantities of the iPad Air, Cook was positive about overall iPad sales during the quarter, stating "I think it's going to be an iPad Christmas."

Cook also confirmed that Apple has had a significant backlog on iPhone 5s supplies, but is working to build up stock each week. He remains confident that Apple will be able to continue to build up its iPhone 5s supplies as it launches in additional countries around the world in the coming weeks. Currently, iPhone 5s shipping times in the United States and multiple other countries remain at 2 to 3 weeks.

During its financial conference call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared a new perspective on the company's iPhone strategy.

Cook was asked questions about how Apple plans to address lower price segments of the smartphone market and where the iPhone 5c stands in the lineup. He stated that the iPhone 4s is now the entry-level iPhone contrary to the pre-launch belief that the iPhone 5c would be the entry-level device:

If you look at what we've done, we're selling the iPhone 4s as our entry offer. We sell the iPhone 5c as the mid-tier and the 5s. Our goal is to have growth across the iPhone but we want each of those categories to grow as compared to what we were doing previously. If you look at the total that we're making in the low end and mid tier and high end, the sum there, we'd like to grow in each one of those. We're really please that we did that.

Cook also elaborated the philosophy of seeing the iPhone 4s as the entry level iPhone after discussing foreign device pricing strategy and why the company did not keep the iPhone 4 in its lineup given its sales success:

What we did with our lineup this time was the 4s is replacing the 4. If you look at the US as an example, the 4s is now free. The 4 was free previously. When you translate that out of the US, it depends on the market as to what specifically happens. Currency changes and the strength of the dollar doesn't always play in our favor in some geos.

We see the 4s as our entry iPhone offer that gives somebody the ability to access the entire ecosystem as a fantastic product. We understand that there is elasticity in that market and it will move accordingly.

Apple sold a record 150 million iPhones in fiscal 2013, up 25 million units from 2012. The company has sold 421.3 million smartphones since the iPhone's launch in 2007.

During today's fourth quarter earnings call, Tim Cook confirmed that Apple still plans on introducing new product categories within 2014.

According to Cook, Apple believes that it can use its skills building software, hardware, and services to create "great products" in categories that Apple does not participate in today. "We're pretty confident about that," said Cook.

Apple has been rumored to be working on a number of innovative products, including a smart watch dubbed the iWatch, which will compete with offerings from several other companies like Nike, Jawbone, and Samsung, along with a potential Apple television set.

Apple's iWatch is rumored for a 2014 release, while a possible release date for a television set has been more hazy. The company is also possibly working on other offerings within the television sector, including a potential set-top box that replaces traditional cable boxes.

Apple today announced financial results for the third calendar and fourth fiscal quarter of 2013. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $37.5 billion and net quarterly profit of $7.5 billion, or $8.26 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $36 billion and net quarterly profit of $8.2 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 37 percent compared to 40.0 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 60 percent of revenue. Apple also declared a dividend payment of $3.05 per share, payable on November 14 to shareholders as of the close of trading on November 11. The company currently holds $146.8 billion in cash and marketable securities.

The company generated $9.9 billion in free cash flow from operations and Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said Apple returned $7.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

For the full fiscal year, Apple generated $170.9 billion in sales, a new record for the firm, with just over $35 billion in net income. In fiscal 2012, Apple made $41.7 billion on $156.5 billion in sales thanks to stronger margins. In 2013, Apple sold 16.34 million Macs, its lowest total since 2010, and 26.4 million iPods, its lowest total for that category since 2005.

It sold a record 150 million iPhones on the year, up 25 million from 2012, and the company has now sold 421.3 million smartphones in total. It sold 71 million iPads, a new record, and the company has now sold 169.2 million tablets.

Quarterly iPhone unit sales reached 33.8 million, compared to 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter, and the company sold 14.1 million iPads, compared to 14 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 4.6 million Macs compared to 4.9 million in the year-ago period.

“We’re pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. "We’re excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS.”

Apple's guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 includes expected revenue of $55-58 billion and gross margin between 36.5 and 37.5 percent.

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2013 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference Call and Q&A Highlights are available in reverse chronological order after the jump.

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Apple is sending a set of Mac Pro posters to select journalists, according to TechCrunch. Writers at CNET, Dallas Morning News and TidBITS have all received copies of the posters, which feature images of the Mac Pro's radical cylindrical design along with the following message:

It's the computer we were insane to build. The one that turns conventional thinking on its head, then kicks the living $#&% out of it. We challenged all our assumptions. Abandoned our preconceptions. And blew away limitation after limitation. This is the new Mac Pro. It's like no Mac we've created before. And we can't wait to see what you create with it.

Apple on occasion sends promotional materials to members of the press. Earlier this year, the company gave select journalists gift cards featuring 100 handpicked songs to celebrate the company's 10th iTunes anniversary and Apple also sent out a 5th anniversary App Store poster as well.

First announced in June, Apple's redesigned Mac Pro starts at $2,999 and comes in several different configurations. The entry-level version includes a 3.7 Ghz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D300 GPUs, 12 GB of memory, and 256 GB of PCIe-based flash storage.

With configure-to-order options, the Mac Pro can be customized with an 8-core or 12-core Xeon E5 processor, FirePro D700 GPUs, up to 64 GB of memory, and up to 1 TB of flash storage. While Apple has yet to provide a solid release date for the Mac Pro, it is expected sometime in December.

When Apple launches orders for the iPad Air on Friday, November 1, the company will reportedly accept requests for Personal Pickup, according to a source who notified MacRumors about Apple's plans.

With Personal Pickup, prospective buyers can reserve an iPad Air online beginning at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time and pick it up at a nearby Apple retail location later that same day without waiting in line.

Launch day availability of Personal Pickup is unusual for Apple, as the company did not offer the choice for the iPad 2, the last tablet that was offered without pre-orders. Apple also did not initially offer in-store pickup of the iPhone 5c, despite the fact that supplies of the phone were readily available.

Though Apple has elected not to accept pre-orders for the iPad Air, it appears that supplies of the tablet are plentiful, with no significant shortages expected. And while supplies of the iPad Air do not appear to be constrained, the same cannot be said for Apple's Retina iPad mini. The tablet, which does not yet have a solid release date, may not be widely available until early 2014.

Revealed last Tuesday, the new iPad Air weighs in at a pound and is 20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than Apple's previous fourth-generation iPad. Along with a Retina display, it includes an A7 processor, an M7 motion coprocessor, and a 5-megapixel rear camera.

Available in white/silver and black/space gray, the iPad Air begins at $499 for the entry-level 16 GB Wi-Fi only model with a $100 price increase for additional storage options up to 128 GB and an extra $129 for comparable cellular models.

While online orders will be accepted beginning at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time in the United States and at varying times in other countries, Apple retail locations will open at 8 a.m. local time in the U.S. and other countries in Europe and Asia to begin in-store sales.

Several tidbits about Apple's upcoming "Made for iPhone" (MFi) gaming controllers leaked out over the weekend, revealing a few new details about products from both MOGA and Logitech. According to a tweet from @evleaks, Logitech's upcoming controller, which was revealed in photos in October, will be called the Powershell, while MOGA's controller is the MOGA Ace Power.

MOGA's upcoming Ace Power controller was accidentally unveiled in a YouTube video over the weekend (via TouchArcade), after images of the controller first leaked last week. While the original images depicted a traditional d-pad along with dual thumbsticks, the video confirms the controller also includes R1/R2 and L1/L2 buttons located at the top.

The trailer also provides a clear picture of the controller's sizing, both with an iPhone inside and while closed. The controller will support the iPhone 5, the 5c, the 5s, and the fifth-generation iPod touch, and while pricing details hqve not been confirmed, initial pricing leaks have pointed to a $99 price tag.

While there is no prospective release date available for the MFi controllers, the increasingly frequent product leaks suggest that they could come before the end of the year, possibly in mid-November.

A little more than a month since the iPhone 5s and 5c went on sale worldwide, the two devices account for 5.5 percent of all active iPhone devices around the world according to Localytics, though the prior-generation iPhone 5 remains the most popular iPhone by far with a 40 percent share.

Much has been written about the head-to-head battle of the iPhone 5s and 5c including our own research from last week that showed that the iPhone 5c is starting to close the gap on its higher-end sibling. Today, the iPhone 5s and 5c now represent 3.8% and 1.7% of all active iPhones globally seen by Localytics. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5 remains the most popular iPhone with a nearly 40% share.

With the iPhone 5s outselling the iPhone 5c by more than 3 to 1 over its launch weekend, the sales gap has begun narrowing between the two new iPhones, perhaps as the initial early-adopter push begins to fade.

Localytics is an mobile analytics platform that uses mobile and web apps to measure usage across 40 million iPhones.