Hit and miss year for Apple

Despite inflation today reaching a high of 5.2% on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), a measure only previously reached in the midst of the September 2008 recession, Apple's full-year profits have risen by 85% compared to this time last year. This amounts to a total net profit of $25bn (£16.5bn) for 2011 fiscal year, to 25th September.

With ever-increasing competition from the likes of the Amazon Kindle Fire and other smart phones, such as the Samsung and HTC, Apple's sales have maintained relatively strong.  Selling 17.1m iPhones in the quarter, a 21% year-on-year growth , and 11.1m iPads, a 166% year-on-year growth, Apple have yet failed to meet the expected purchases predicted by analysts.

These "weak" sales have had impact on the price of shares, which have allegedly fallen 5% since the information has been made public.

Macintosh computers have, however, had their best-ever quarter for sales, with 4.9m machines retailed worldwide, cementing Apple's stronghold in the computing market.

Tim Cook, Chief Executive at Apple preceding Steve Jobs' who died on 5th October 2011, has nonetheless said he is "thrilled with the very strong finish of an outstanding fiscal 2011".

These figures fail to account for the boom in sales in line with the release of the iPhone 4S on 14 October, which have made record books selling four million in the initial three days after their release. Peter Oppenheimer, Chief Financial Officer at Apple pinpoints the overall weak sales down to the expected anticipation and speculation over the iPhone 4S. And after seeing such successful sales, Apple's market power remains to be queried.

Cook insists that the "team remain really enthusiastic about our product pipeline", and that "customer responses to the iPhone 4S has been fantastic". However, reaction to Jobs' death on a worldwide scale, it is debatable that the legacy of the "creative genius" will have gained the global company an added allure, with which we await the 2012 fiscal calculations.

Take a look at the figures yourself here.