Monday's earnings call had plenty of good news for Apple shareholders. While the positive numbers revealed may have been a slight surprise, they should not have been considering the buzz surrounding the manufacturer's iPhone 4 and iPad.

The conference call that took place Monday had a surprise appearance from Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, as well as other high ranking officers within the company.  Apple's fiscal fourth quarter revenue was projected to be between $17.87 billion and $19.86 billion. The official revenue clocked in at $20.34 billion, which surpassed projections and was 67 percent higher than last year. 

The majority of the revenue, 57 percent, came from international sales. That may not come as a surprise considering that 16 of the 24 new Apple Stores were opened overseas. Earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter were $4.31 billion and $4.64 per share. Those were also a pleasant surprise, as earnings per share were projected to hover between $3.43 and $4.41 per share. For the first fiscal quarter of 2011, Apple projects revenue of $23 billion and earnings per share of $4.80.

Sales numbers increased over the previous year among each of Apple's heavy hitters in its product line. The iPhone saw the biggest jump with a 91 percent increase over last year and 14.1 million units sold. CFO Peter Oppenheimer claimed that the major jump in iPhone sales could be attributed to the doubling of sales in the overseas markets of Europe, Japan, and Asia Pacific. Revenue from iPhone sales was $8.6 billion, not including accessories. 

Jobs noted that the 14.1 million iPhones sold trumped the 12.1 million by market leader RIM. He also promised that Apple would reveal some surprises with regards to its iPhone before the end of 2010. The number of Macs sold grew 27 percent over last year, with 3.89 million sold. Sales of the iPod numbered 9.05 million, which marked a 11 percent increase. 

The one area where sales were disappointing was with regard to the iPad.  Apple reported that 4.19 million units of the iPad were sold during the tablet's second quarter on shelves. While the iPad sales were high and did improve over the previous quarter's mark of 3 million, they failed to meet the projected level by analysts of 4.7 million units. 

The main reason cited for the lower sales figures, as described by COO Tim Cook, was lack of supply. He stated that instead of having enough inventory of the tablet to last the ideal four to six weeks, Apple only had a supply good enough to last three to four weeks. The announcement of the iPad numbers was not well-received by Apple investors. Although Apple stock closed at an all-time high of $318 on Monday afternoon, after-hours trading led the stock's value to drop to $299.95.

Other highlights of Monday's news from Apple included Jobs' dismissal of rumors concerning a 7-inch iPad, as well as the lack of any new progress on the possible inclusion of Flash support on the iPhone or iPad.

For more on this topic, visit http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20019928-260.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

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