Huge Quarter For Apple

Apple, two days before it is expected to introduce its long-awaited tablet product, announced very positive results for its first fiscal quarter on Monday. The company posted a profit of $3.38 billion on revenue of $15.68 billion, up from the numbers of $2.26 billion and $11.88 billion, respectively, at the same time last year.

The quarter covered the three months that ended Dec. 26.

The results were largely attributable to huge increases in sales of both iPhones and computers. The company sold 8.7 million iPhones- a 100 percent increase over last year's first quarter- and 3.36 million Mac computers, a 33 percent jump.

“If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company,” CEO Steve Jobs said as part of the announcement. “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”