Apple Sells Over 3M iPads, Nets 78% Profit JumpApple Sells Over 3M iPads, Nets 78% Profit Jump

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) had a booming third quarter -- despite antennagate -- with sales of iPads, iPhones and iPods boosting the company's profit 78 percent year-on-year.

Apple's net income rose to US$3.25 billion -- or $3.51 a share -- from $1.83 billion a year ago, on revenues that grew 61 percent to $15.7 billion. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had been expecting a per-share profit of $3.11.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company's numbers were helped by sales growth across almost all of its major product lines. The company launched two key new mobile products during its fiscal 2010 third quarter -- the iPad and the iPhone 4.

Apple has sold 3.27 million iPads since its April 3 launch. (See The iPad Has Landed.)

The company sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 61 percent unit growth over the equivalent quarter last year. Over 1.7 million of those were the new iPhone 4 model, which launched on June 24. (See Apple Outdoes Itself with iPhone 4.) CEO Steve Jobs is describing the iPhone 4 as "the most successful product launch in Apple’s history."

This despite widespread reporting on signal fade issues that can affect the new phone when it is held in a certain way. Apple has said that 0.55 percent of calls to its support line were about iPhone 4 reception issues, and Jobs has described the issue as "overblown." (See Apple's Answer to 'Antennagate'.)

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile