Apple profits double in second quarter

Apple's net profits for the three months ending March 27 hit $3.07 billion (£1.99bn), compared to $1.62 billion (£1.05bn) in the same quarter last year.

The company also posted revenues of $13.50 billion (£8.77bn), up from $9.08 billion (£5.90bn) twelve months ago. International sales accounted for 58 per cent of revenues, while gross margins were at 41.7 per cent (up from 39.9 per cent in 2009).

During the second quarter Apple sold 2.94 million Macintosh computers, a 33 per cent increase on the previous year.

iPhone sales shot up by as much as 131 per cent on the same period a year ago, with 8.75 million smartphones sold. Lifetime sales to date now stand at over 50 million units, only a little behind the PSP.

Sales of the company's iPod range though saw only a 1 per cent increase on 2009's results, with 10.89 million units sold.

"We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 per cent and profits up 90 per cent", said Apple 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".

"Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $13.0 billion to $13.4 billion (£8.4 to £8.7bn) and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $2.28 to $2.39,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer.

In a subsequent conference call regarding the results, Oppenheimer indicated that the iPhone App Store was generally breaking even, but was not seen as a profit driver by the company. He also confirmed that games continue to be the most numerous type of app on the store.