Apple rides iPhone success to record profits

Strong iPhone sales have helped Apple surge past investor expectations to record quarterly profits up 90 per cent on last year, sending its share price to an all-time high.

Revenues for the three months ending in March the second quarter of Apple's financial year were $13.5 billion, a 50 per cent increase on 2009's $9.08 billion, while net income was $3.07 billion or $3.33 per share nearly doubling last year's profits of $1.62 billion.

The results easily smashed Wall Street predictions of around $12 billion in revenues, with better-than-expected sales figures for the iPhone at the heart of the impressive figures.

Apple racked up nearly nine million iPhone sales worldwide an increase of 131 per cent on the same period last year, with Mac sales also posting a healthy growth of 33 per cent, and the ageing iPod still holding firm with a one per cent sales drop in a largely saturated market.

The iPhone's emergence into new markets such as China, and its availability through a broader range of providers in existing markets including the UK has added new momentum to the handset's sales. And with a fourth-generation iPhone due to be unveiled in the summer, there's little sign of its star fading.

Even more impressively for Apple, the quarterly results don't include sales of the iPad tablet, which is expected to add another $1 billion in revenue this quarter.

"We're thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever," said chief executive Steve Jobs in a statement announcing the results. "We've launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year."

More than half a million iPads have been sold in the US since its launch at the beginning of April, exceeding even Apple's most optimistic estimates to the extent that its launch in other countries, including the UK, has been delayed due to lack of available stock. At present, it is due to launch in the UK at the end of May.

Apple is forecasting earnings of $2.28-$2.39 a share on revenues of $13 billion to $13.4 billion for the current quarter. The company's share price rose to $257 in after-hours trading yesterday, an all-time high.