Apple toasts record quarter

Sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs rocket in the first quarter of 2012

Apple’s star continues to rise after it posted a record quarterly net profit for its first quarter of fiscal 2012.

The iPhone, iPod and iPad maker, whose co-founder Steve Jobs died last October, saw Q1 revenue of $46.3bn (£29.7bn) and profit of $13bn, compared with revenue of $26.7bn and $6bn profit in the same quarter a year ago.

iPhone sales grew by 128 per cent to 37m units in Q1, and iPad sales rocketed 111 per cent to 15.4m. Mac sales also increased by 26 per cent to 5.2m.

However, iPod sales bucked the trend and dropped 21 per cent compared with Q1 2011.

Chief executive Tim Cook said: “We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

Peter Oppenheimer, chief financial officer, said: “We are very happy to have generated over $17.5bn in cash flow from operations during the December quarter. Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about $32.5bn and earnings per share of about $8.50.”

In separate news, Apple’s success in the smartphone market this week meant it became the top semiconductor customer in 2011, accounting for nearly 35 per cent of the market, according to Gartner.