Technology giant Apple has reported a whopping 47 per cent jump net profit at $1.67 billion for the fourth quarter, its "most profitable quarter ever", driven by record sales of smartphone iPhone and Mac computers.

Apple, for the full year ended September 26, reported a 12 per cent growth in revenue and an 18 per cent increase in net income in "extraordinarily challenging times".

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs said : "We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter. We've got a very strong line up for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."     

The company said it has reported its "most profitable quarter ever", and expects the momentum to continue projecting a bullish guidance for the next quarter.     

During the fourth quarter, Apple sold 3.05 million Macintosh computers, reflecting a 17 per cent rise over the year-ago period. It sold 7.4 million iPhones in the quarter, a rise of 7 per cent over the same quarter last year.

"Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $1.7 to $1.78," Oppenheimer said.

Shares of the company rose sharply after the announcement of robust results but closed up 0.96 per cent at $189.86 on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange yesterday.

Apple further said "gross margin was 36.6 per cent, up from 34.7 per cent in the year-ago quarter and international sales accounted for 46 per cent of the quarter's revenue."

Apple's iPods business suffered to a certain extent as its sales declined by 8 per cent to 10.2 million units.

For the year ended September 26, 2009, technology giant posted a net income of $5.7 billion compared to $4.83 billion in the year-earlier. The company registered a net sale of $36.53 billion in the fiscal against $32.47 billion in the year ended September 27, 2008, the company said.

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