Apple records bumper Christmas trading numbers

Apple yesterday reported record revenues for the second quarter in a row, with profits of US$6 billion and revenues of US$26.74 billion – up 77.5 per cent and 70.5 per cent respectively.

The company announced that during the Christmas quarter it sold 7.3 million iPads – as many as it sold in the previous two quarters – taking the total sold to 14.5 million copies since its introduction in April 2010. The iPhone also saw strong growth, with 16.24 million sold in the most recent quarter – its best ever.

In a statement, Jobs said: "We had a phenomenal holiday quarter, with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year, including iPhone 4 on Verizon."

Observers have focused on an apparent rivalry in the mobile market between Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android mobile operating system. But the signs are that Android is not weakening Apple; instead the two are taking market share in the US, particularly from RIM, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry. Apple passed RIM for the number of phones sold in the US in the third quarter, and RIM is struggling to maintain market share.

The iPhone, meanwhile, is expected to receive a sales boost in the US after Verizon, the largest US mobile network, with 93.2 million subscribers, announced it would begin selling Apple’s phones from the end of this month. That will be in addition to AT&T, with 89.8 million subscribers, which has sold the device since its inception in June 2007.