iPhone helps Apple post record profits
Technology giant Apple has unveiled record profits, up 57% in the three months to the end of December, lifted by demand for iPhones and its Mac computers.
Sales of its iPhone, released in America in June last year, reached 2.3 million. Earnings were lifted to $1.58bn (£806m), up from $1bn a year earlier.
Apple says it shipped 2.3 million Macintosh computers, 44% more than the year before, and sold 22 million iPods during the period, beating its previous record set during the 2006 Christmas season.
Future profit growth is expected to come from new products, including online film rentals for iTunes users Mac Book Air, the world’s thinnest laptop.
However, the company has forecast earnings for the next three months that were less than the market expected fuelling fears of a US consumer slowdown.