Apple “firing on all cylinders” after record iPhone sales

Profits jumped 95% to $5.99bn (£3.6bn) year on year for the three months to March. Revenue surged 83% to $24.67bn (£15bn), with the US providing the majority of the income, following the iPhone’s first full month of being available on the Verizon network.

Apple sold 18.7 million iPhones in the period, up from the 8.75 million it sold the previous year.

However, sales of its iPad tablet were lower than expected, despite the launch of the iPad 2 device mid-March and a day before its books closed on the quarter elsewhere. Shipments dropped to 4.7 million in the quarter, down from 7.3 million in the first quarter.

Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook admits the iPad 2 is the “mother of all backlogs” for the company and says the company will ramp up production in order to prevent further delays.

The tablet and smartphone market is becoming fiercly competitive after the launch of dozens of new devices this year. Google’s Android now dominates Apple’s iOS platform in Europe.

Sales of Apple’s Mac computers increased 28% to 3.76 million. Apple sold 9.02 million iPods in the quarter, down 17% year on year.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says in a statement: “With quarterly revenue growth of 83% and profit growth of 95% we’re firing on all cylinders. We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.

The company also faces the challenge of finding a successor to Jobs, who is currently on a medical leave of absence.