Apple Sells 9M iPhones Over The Weekend, A New Record

Apple shares are up more than 6% in pre-market trading after its announcement about the weekend sales — the first that included its new iPhone 5C and 5S.Analysts expected as many as 8M units to be sold worldwide.

That would have handily beat the previous opening weekend record of 5M set last year with the release of the iPhone 5. With the new sales figures, Apples says in an SEC filing that it expects its fiscal Q4 revenues to come in “near the high end of the previously provided range of $34 billion to $37 billion” with gross margins “near the high end of the previously provided range of 36% to 37%.”

Demand for the iPhones was “incredible,” CEO Tim Cook says, “and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5S, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone.” Unlike last year, people served by T-Mobile and Japan’s DoCoMo were able to buy the new iPhones on the opening weekend. Read more >>

Senate investigators: Apple sheltered $44 billion from taxes

Senate investigators accuse Apple of wiring together a complicated system to shield billions of dollars in international profits from both U.S. and foreign tax collectors.

A report released ahead of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s inaugural Capitol Hill appearance Tuesday alleges the tech giant took advantage of numerous U.S. tax loopholes and avoided U.S. taxes on $44 billion in offshore, taxable income between 2009 and 2012 — a characterization Apple flatly rejects.

The bipartisan Senate probe also charges for the first time that Apple’s long established foreign entities, based in Ireland, don’t actually have tax-resident status there or anywhere else. The company conducts most of its international business in the European country to take advantage of lower tax rates, according to the congressional report.

Despite the findings, lawmakers behind the inquiry did not describe Apple’s tax conduct as illegal — but they sharply rebuked the Cupertino, California-based tech heavyweight on Monday for its tactics.

“What we intend to do is to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore avoidance tactics so that American working families, who pay their share of taxes, understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden and how those loopholes add to the federal deficit,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Read more >>