Spotlight: Apple Inc.

If there is one fashionable tech stock, it must be Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Apple is so popular that some people are close to worshiping it. Is Apple able to sustain this cult-status and more importantly its profitability level? A quick look at the third quarterly results of Apple tells us that they sold 16% more iPhones than they did in the same period last year, resulting in an increase of net profit of 13% year-on-year. What Apple does really well is appealing to the current customer base. A lot of people who already own an iPhone buy the newest version of the iPhone each time a new version is presented to the market. Therefore, with the introduction of new iPhones, Apple can be sure that it will be sold in large quantities. But Apple is more ambitious than just maintaining its customer base, it also wants to expand. The third quarterly results show that Apple is already on its way to conquer more market share as Apple sold  50% and 25% of their iPhone 5s sales in the USA and China respectively to new smartphone users. On the other hand, the iPad sales are a bit disappointing, but this is compensated by the iPhone and the Macbook sales. In the short run, we expect Apple to keep performing well and increase its revenues. mainly because of the success of the iPhone 6. Apple's CEO Tim Cook even noted that he expected this December to be the best month for Apple in its history. In the long run Apple will need to work hard to keep on expanding its customer base, but it will be helped by the ever growing consumer market in China. Besides the good results in the third quarter, Apple is feeling the pressure of stock owners to pay out more dividend because of Apple's high cash position. Which may make Apple an even more interesting stock. In conclusion, Apple remains to be a solid tech stock to have in your portfolio, because of its high profits, growth opportunities and possible dividends.