Apple's iPhone sales in line, sees strong holiday

REUTERS - Apple Inc said on Monday it sold 33.8 million iPhones last quarter, roughly in line with analyst expectations, and signaled a strong holiday season.

The world's most valuable tech company said it expected revenue of $55 billion to $58 billion in the crucial October to end-December period. Wall Street was expecting $55.65 billion.

Apple shares traded down slightly after hours. They closed up 0.7 percent in regular Nasdaq trading.

The company said it sold 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, up very slightly from 14 million in the year-ago quarter, and sold 4.6 million of its Mac computers, down from 4.9 million a year ago.

 

Overall revenue was $37.5 billion, ahead of Wall Street's average forecast of $36.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Earnings per share were $8.26, ahead of analysts' average estimate of $7.94.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Bernard Orr)