Apple has posted both record sales and profits for the last three months of 2010.
The figures, published on Tuesday, far exceeded the expectations of analysts. The iPhone-maker’s net income leapt 78% year-on-year to a new record $6 billion. This was on top of revenue that grew 70% over the pervious year to reach $26.74 billion.
Sales of Apple’s mobile devices continued to exceed expectations. It sold 16.24 million iPhones during the quarter, as well as 7.3 million iPads – 75% more than in the previous quarter.
Figures for the tablet market released by IDC show that the iPad continued to dominate tablet sales in the third quarter of 2010. It accounted for 87.4% of the 4.8 million tablets shipped.
Apple is becoming more and more the mobile devices company it predicted itself to be with the launch of the iPad. As it does so, iAds, the company’s mobile marketing platform, is likely to see growth in line with or exceeding the sales of the company’s devices.
The strong results are likely to act as a balm to investor uncertainty after Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced an indefinite medical leave of absence on Monday. Shares dropped 6% on the news, but recovered by the end of trade to just 2.2% below their former level.
