Citing strong demand for just about every product in its arsenal, Apple has announced yet another best-ever quarter, generating $15.7 billion in sales and a profit of $3.25 billion, which is up 61% from $9.73 billion and 78% from $1.83 billion in the year-ago period. During the fiscal third quarter, Mac computer sales increased by a record 33% to 3.47 million from 2.6 million in 2009. The period ending June 26 also marked the first full quarter of sales for the iPad, which sold 3.27 million units.
Despite the drama surrounding the iPhone 4's reception, Apple says it shipped 8.4 million of its latest handset, a 61% boost over last year. Meanwhile, iPod sales continued their gradual descent, slipping 8% to 9.41 million. All said and done, the company added $4.1 billion to its coin purse, which now holds $45.8 billion. Apple expects the fourth quarter to bring $18 billion in revenue, and it mentioned the pending launch of "amazing new products" still planned for the year.
As related news, iTunes 9.2.1 is out. This update just offers minor bugs fixes but if you like to be on the safe side it is available for Windows 32-bit, 64-bit and Mac OS X.