Apple profits up 90 per cent

The iPhone continues to reap significant rewards for Apple, with the Californian firm posting fiscal Q2 results on Tuesday that saw profits leap by 90 per cent year on year to $3.07bn. Revenue was up by almost 49 per cent on the same period for last year to $13.5bn and Apple sold 8.75 million iPhones during the quarter, an increase of 131 per cent over the same quarter last year.

The firm also managed a 33 per cent increase in shipments of Mac computers during the three months to March 27 this year, with 2.94 million units sold, although iPod sales dropped one per cent year on year, to 10.89 million units. Given the functional overlap with the iPhone, it is perhaps not surprising that iPod sales are beginning to slow.

Apple is benefiting from the conclusion of exclusive distribution deals for the iPhone outside of the US, where it is still tied to AT&T. The firm said that 58 per cent of its revenue for the quarter came from international sales.

“Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $13.0 billion to $13.4 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $2.28 to $2.39,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.

“We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever,” said CEO Steve Jobs. “We’ve launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.”

One of these may well be the next generation iPhone. Pictures of a device reported to be a prototype of this product were posted online this week by Gizmodo, which said it had been left in a Californian bar by a well-refreshed Apple engineer.