SAN FRANCISCO: Strong debuts for the iPad tablet computer and the new iPhone powered gadget maker Apple to a record quarter which blew past the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
The Cupertino, California-based company said on Tuesday its net profit rose 78 percent to 3.25 billion dollars in the fiscal third quarter which ended on June 26.
Revenue increased to a record 15.7 billion dollars from 9.73 billion dollars a year ago, surpassing the 14.75 billion dollars forecast by analysts.
Earnings per share of 3.51 dollars were also well above the 3.11 dollars per share expected by analysts.
Apple said it sold 3.27 million iPads during the quarter, raking in an additional 2.1 billion dollars in revenue and nearly matching sales for Macintosh computers.
Apple, which only began selling the iPad in April, said it sold a record 3.47 million Macintosh computers in the quarter.
Apple said it sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, up 61 percent over a year ago, including 1.7 million new iPhone 4s.
The latest version of the smartphone went on sale in five countries on June 24 and Apple has been dogged by complaints about reception problems due to its unusual antenna design.
Apple announced last week that it will offer free rubber-and-plastic cases designed to address the antenna issue to customers.
Sales of iPod music players were down eight percent in the quarter from a year ago to 9.41 million, Apple said.
"It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple's history with iPhone 4," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement.
"iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year," Jobs said.
In a conference call with analysts, Apple chief executive officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company was "very pleased with sales of iPad and iPhone 4."
"We're working hard on catching up with customer demand for these great products and we look forward to rolling them out to even more customers in more countries this quarter," he said.
Oppenheimer said Macintosh sales of 3.47 million in the quarter exceeded the record set in the December quarter by over 100,000 and surpassed research group IDC's estimate of 22 percent growth for the PC market this quarter.
Oppenheimer said that while iPod sales fell to 9.4 million from 10.2 million a year ago, sales of the more expensive iPod Touch had grown 48 percent year on year, generating revenue growth of four percent.
Oppenheimer also said Apple expected revenue of around 18 billion dollars in the current quarter and earnings per share of 3.44 dollars.
Apple shares leaped 3.65 percent to 261.08 dollars in after-hours trading after the fiscal third quarter results were released, after gaining 2.57 percent during the day.
- AFP/de
