Much stronger-than-expected iPhone sales helped Apple nearly double its profit last quarter. The world's most valuable company said it sold 35.1 million iPhones during the first three months of 2012, soundly beating analysts' expectations, CNN reported.
The iPhone 4S got a big boost from overseas sales in the past quarter, particularly after the device launched on China Unicom in January and China Telecom in March. Apple's Asian revenues grew 32% over the prior quarter.
Apple also announced that it sold 11.8 million iPads. Boosting sales was the launch of the third generation of the tablet, which went on sale in mid-March, as well as Apple's decision to continue selling the very similar iPad 2 at a $100 discount.
The iPad is now Apple's fastest-selling device, reaching 67 million sold since it launched two years ago. It took Apple three years to sell as many iPhones, five years to sell as many iPods and 24 years to sell that number of Macintosh computers.
Yet analysts were concerned that the introduction of the lower price point would hurt future profit. Average revenue per iPad fell to $558 last quarter from $593 in the previous quarter.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts that the company "feels great" about offering the iPad at a lower entry cost, which has resulted in a "marked change in demand in some countries."
Mac sales grew to 4 million, and iPod sales slipped to 7.7 million.
Apple's net income rose to $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per share, up 95% from a year earlier. Analysts forecasted earnings of $10.04 per share.
For the current quarter, Apple said it expects earnings of $8.68 per share on sales of $34 billion.
