Apple posts record profit, revenue in Oct-Dec

Apple Inc has reported a whopping 78 per cent jump in net income at $6 billion for the October-December period of 2010, buoyed by record sales of iPhone, iPad and Macintosh computers.

The company had a net income of $3.38 billion in the October-December quarter of 2009, Apple said.

Apple has registered a record revenue of $26.74 billion in the first quarter of the fiscal compared to $15.68 billion in the year-ago period.

"We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales," Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs, said adding, "We are firing on all cylinders and we've got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can't wait to get their hands on."

The strong quarterly numbers came a day after its iconic founder and chief executive Steve Jobs announced that he was taking a medical leave of absence for unspecified health problems.

During the quarter, Apple sold 4.13 million Macs, a 23 per cent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

The company sold 16.24 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 86 per cent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

Besides, the company also sold 7.33 million iPads during the quarter.

While, Apple has witnessed a decline of seven per cent in iPods sales to 19.45 million unit.

The company, which has reported a strong performance in the first quarter, expects that momentum will continue in the next quarter as well.

"Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2011, the company expect revenue of about $22 billion and expect diluted earnings per share of about $4.90," Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said.

Oppenheimer further said, "We could not be happier with the performance of our business, generating $9.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter."