Apple Q3 net doubles to $7.3 bn on iPhone, iPad sales

Boosted by sales of iPhones and iPads, Apple has reported an over two-fold growth in net income to $7.31 billion for the April-June quarter of 2011.

In the year-ago period, the iPhone maker had posted a net income of $3.25 billion, Apple said in a statement.

The company registered a record quarterly revenue of $28.57 billion in the third quarter ended June 25, 2011, as compared to $15.17 billion in the year-ago period, a jump of 82%.

The technology giant has attributed its strong quarterly performance to robust sales of iPhones and iPads.

"We're thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82% and profits up 125%," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, adding, "Right now, we're very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall."

During the quarter, Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones, translating into 142% unit growth vis-a-vis the year-ago period.

In addition, Apple sold 9.25 million iPads, a 183% unit jump over the year-ago quarter. Furthermore, the firm sold 3.95 million Macs during the quarter, a 14% unit increase over the year-ago period.

However, sales of iPods declined by 20% from the year-ago period to 7.54 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011.

"We are extremely pleased with our performance, which drove quarterly cash flow from operations to $11.1 billion, an increase of 131% year-over-year," the company's CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, said.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2011, the company expects to achieve a revenue of about $25 billion and earnings per share of about $5.50 apiece.