Dive Brief:
- Apple reported its third quarter earnings yesterday, with a profit of $7.75 billion compared to $6.9 billion the same quarter last year.
- Sales of its iPhones reached 35.2 million phones, up 13% from last year. Revenue was also up; $37.43 billion from $35.32 billion in the same quarter last year.
- The good news came just hours after a California judge granted class action status to a labor code case brought by nearly 21,000 current and former Apple employees against the company.
Dive Insight:
At issue are claims that Apple failed to comply with California labor laws by providing the proper meal and rest breaks to employees. The ruling judge in the case alleged that Apple's policy did not allow for these breaks "in a timely basis."
This ruling casts a damper on what was otherwise a good quarter for the company, with rising profits and a healthy sales of both its iPhone and Mac. Experts are saying that this, coupled with a possible success in the China market, could be the impetus for the release of a newer, lower-cost iPhone.