Apple posts record-high profit on iPhone sales

"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever," Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said in a conference.

SAN FRANCISCO, January 25, 2010 (AFP) - A doubling of iPhone sales helped Apple post record-high quarterly net profit on Monday of 3.38 billion dollars.

"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever," Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said in a conference call with financial analysts.

Apple said revenue in the first quarter rose to 15.68 billion dollars from 11.88 billion dollars in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

"If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it's surprising that Apple is now a 50-billion-dollar-plus company," said the iconic California firm's chief executive Steve Jobs.

"The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about," Jobs said in a statement.

Apple has maintained trademark secrecy regarding a Wednesday event at which it is expected to unveil a tablet computer along the lines of a "iPhone on steroids," according to analysts.

Apple executives repeatedly refused to comment on the Wednesday event during the conference call telling analysts only to "stay tuned."

The firm's quarterly profit amounted to 3.67 dollars per share in a leap from the 2.50 dollars per share, or 2.26 billion dollars in net profit, in the final three months of 2008.

The 3.38-billion-dollar net profit reported in the recent quarter topped Apple's previous record high profit by nearly 850 million dollars, according to Oppenheimer.

Apple said it sold 3.36 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, 33 percent more than a year ago, and 8.7 million iPhones, up 100 percent from a year ago.

However, sales of iPods slid eight percent to 21 million units in a year-over-year comparison.

Apple executives noted that while sales of traditional iPod models declined as anticipated, those of top end iPod Touch models rose 55 percent resulting in a slight increase in revenue in that product category.

Apple said its share of the MP3 music player market remains at more than 70 percent and iPod models are gaining ground internationally. Apple's online iTunes store also had a record-breaking quarter, according to Oppenheimer.

Apple has expanded iPhone sales to 86 countries including China.

Apple has activated more than 200,000 iPhones in China since it began selling them in that country at the end of October, according to chief operating officer Tim Cook.

"We would prefer to move slow because we are focused on building the brand for the long term," Cook said during the conference call. "We are very happy working with China Unicom. They are an excellent partner for us."

Apple ended the last quarter with 1,500 points of sale for iPhones in China. Apple said 58 percent of its revenue in the quarter came from outside the United States.

"We are very pleased to have generated 5.8 billion dollars in cash during the quarter," said Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer said Apple expects revenue in the current fiscal quarter to range from 11.0 billion dollars to 11.4 billion dollars and for diluted earnings per share to wind up between 2.06 dollars and 2.18 dollars.