Festive boost lifts Apple to record sales

Apple last night reported record quarterly sales and profit as Christmas purchases of the new iPhone helped the company steer clear of the consumer spending slump that has hurt its rivals.

Fiscal first-quarter profit more than doubled to $13.1 billion (€10bn), or $13.87 a share, compared with $6bn, or $6.43 a share, a year earlier, Apple said. Sales rose 73% to $46.3bn. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg on average estimated profit of $10.14 a share on sales of $39bn.

Apple sold 37 million iPhones, up from the previous record of 20.34 million. Customers snapped up the 4S model that went on sale in October, a week after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. The results mark the first time the company’s quarterly revenue beat Hewlett-Packard’s, underscoring how its focus on sleek touch-screen mobile devices has reshuffled industry leadership.