Apple's profit soared 38 percent and revenue rose 33 percent in its fiscal third quarter, as sales of iPhones continued to surge.
On Tuesday, the company, based in Cupertino, Calif., reported net income of $ 10.7 billion, compared with $ 7.7 billion from the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue climbed to $ 49.6 billion, slightly above the expectations of Wall Street analysts, who had predicted revenue of $ 49.3 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.
"We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch," Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, said in a statement, adding that excitement for Apple Music, its new streaming music service, was "incredible."
As is often the case for Apple, strong iPhone sales lifted results. Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones over the quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago.
The jump in iPhone sales is noteworthy because the spring season tends to be when device sales slow down for Apple and other tech companies. Sales usually heat up between September and December, when consumers stock up on new devices for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons, and cool down afterward.
Apple's stock price over the last six months.
Apple also reported $ 2.6 billion in revenue for a category it calls "Other Products." The category — which includes products like the iPod — is being particularly scrutinized this quarter because it also includes the company's new product, the Apple Watch. Apple did not break out specific sales data of the gadget, which became available in April.
Ahead of the report, analysts had estimated that if earnings in the category exceeded $ 5 billion, it would be a sign that Apple had sold at least five million watches, much higher than the number of iPhones and iPads that were sold in their first quarters on the market. That sales performance, they say, is a litmus test for whether Apple can continue to execute successful product introductions after the 2011 death of Steven P. Jobs, who drove the company to new heights with products like the iPhone and iPad.
"There's a belief that, look, at some point iPhone units will slow," said Toni Sacconaghi, a financial analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein. "What's going to make up for that, and the hope is, could it be the watch?"
In an interview, Luca Maestri, Apple's chief financial officer, said the watch's sales in its first nine weeks exceeded those of the iPhone and iPad in their first nine weeks of availability.
Apple noted that international sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter's overall revenue. Sales in the greater China region, one of Apple's prime growth areas, more than doubled in the quarter to $ 13.2 billion.
The company also reported healthy growth for its Macintosh computer business. Apple sold 4.8 million Macs, up 9 percent from a year ago.
Yet the iPad, which has experienced declining sales over the last year, continued to shrink. The company posted sales of 10.9 million iPads, down 18 percent from 13.3 million sold in the same quarter a year earlier.
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