Apple beats forecasts as profits surge

Consumer technology giant Apple has smashed Wall Street expectations after profits surged on strong demand for new products including the iPad.

The company, which sold almost as many of its new iPad tablets as Mac computers, said revenues jumped 61 per cent to $15.7 billion in the second quarter. Profits rose 78 per cent to $3.25 billion.

With the company lifting its revenues guidance for the current quarter, Apple shares rose more than 3 per cent in after-hours trading in New York.

Apple said it sold 8.4 million iPhones, an increase of 61 per cent from last year, even though the company stopped shipping more of the previous-generation iPhones after the updated model, the iPhone4, was announced in June. It sold 1.7 million units of the iPhone4 during the last three days of the quarter.

It also sold about 3.3 million iPads during its first three months on the market. This compared with 3.5 million Macs after sales of the computers rose 33 per cent due to record levels of business with schools and colleges.

Apple's strong performance contrasted with fellow technology firm Yahoo, which disappointed Wall Street with sluggish revenues growth.