Apple's profits surge by 90%

Apple today announced a 90% leap in profits for the quarter ended March 27 this year.

The company posted revenue of $13.5bn (€10bn) and net quarterly profit of $3.07bn (€2.3bn), or $3.33 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.08bn (€6.75bn) and net quarterly profit of $1.62bn (€1.2bn), or $1.79 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year.

Gross margin was 41.7%, up from 39.9% last year. International sales accounted for 58% of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 2.94 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, a 33% unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The company sold 8.75 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 131% unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

However, sales of the company's iPod levelled off - Apple sold 10.89 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 1% unit decline from March 2009.

The results do not include sales on the company's iPad, which went on sale last month.

“We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49% and profits up 90%,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. He added that, after the launch of the iPad, the company had "several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year".

“Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $13bn (€9.7bn) to $13.4bn (€10bn) and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $2.28 to $2.39,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.