The iPhone doesn’t fall far from the tree. Apple reported a surge in revenues last quarter as iPhone sales revenue jumped a fifth from last year. That’s thanks to the iPhone 6, which went on sale just eight days before the quarter’s end. Unit sales of the iPhone rose 16 per cent – a similar pattern to previous new releases, but bigger. Bendy or not, the phone is keeping Apple’s margins firm: gross margin rose to 38 per cent in the quarter, from 37 per cent last year. Though iPhone 6 sales were not disclosed, strong demand for the new, more expensive phones was underlined in the average selling price for all iPhones, which rose 4.5 per cent year on year.

苹果(Apple)新版iPhone手机再现了成功。苹果报告上一季度营收激增，iPhone销售额比去年跃升五分之一。这要归功于在第三季度结束前8天才开始发售的iPhone 6。这款iPhone的销售量上升了16%——与之前新款iPhone发售时的增幅相似，但更大一些。且不管是不是容易掰弯，这款手机稳稳支撑着苹果的利润率：该季度毛利润率上升至38%，去年是37%。虽然该公司不披露iPhone 6的分类销售数据，但对这款更昂贵的新手机的强劲市场需求，从iPhone均售价同比上升4.5%可见一斑。

Sales of the iPhone made up the bulk of Apple’s growth, but the other branches of the company look healthy too. Back-to-school purchases boosted Mac sales revenues, which were up 18 per cent over the previous year. Sales of the iPad continued to decline, falling 13 per cent; their sales are increasingly a sideshow to Apple’s bottom line. Apple expects the bumper crop to continue through the holidays: guidance for the current quarter is $65bn in revenues at the midpoint, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $63.4bn, according to S&P Capital IQ.

iPhone销售构成苹果增长的很大部分，但该公司其他业务看起来也很健康。新学期开学采购拉动了Mac电脑的销售收入，比去年同期增长18%。iPad销售继续下滑，减少了13%；该产品销售对苹果利润的影响越来越边缘化。苹果期望这一亮丽表现能延续到圣诞销售旺季：据标普资本IQ数据，当前季度的营收指引中点是650亿美元，超过分析师预计的634亿美元。

All this success will grow Apple’s cash pile – and the debate over what to do with these resources will grow louder, too. Net cash has decreased slightly over the past year, to $120bn at the end of last quarter, from $130bn the previous year. Apple’s shareholders understandably want the company to return more of this to them.

这一切的成功将令苹果的现金储备增加——而围绕如何善用这些资源的辩论也将更激烈。过去一年净现金略有下降，上季度末达1200亿美元，而去年同期为1300亿美元。可以理解的是，苹果的股东想要该公司返还更多现金。

Apple returned $17bn through buybacks last quarter, bringing cumulative buybacks to more than $80bn since 2012. Yet the dividend announced Monday is just 47 cents (an outlay of less than $3bn for Apple), which represents a third of net profit per share. Apple’s annual dividend yield is on the stingy side at less than two per cent. Buybacks provide the most benefit to shareholders wishing to sell their stock. But when the harvest is a good one, better to distribute the bounty more evenly.

苹果上季度已通过股票回购，返还给股东170亿美元，自2012年以来累计回购已超过800亿美元。尽管如此，本周一公布的股息仅为每股47美分（对苹果来说支出低于30亿美元），这相当于每股净利润的三分之一。苹果的年度股息收益率偏低，不到2%。对希望出售股票的苹果股东来说，回购可提供最大利益。然而，当获得大丰收时，最好能更公允地分配收成。

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