13% increase in net profits and high sales reported by Apple for Q3

Fiscal third-quarter results of the Cupertino, California based Apple Inc exceeded the expectations of the Wall Street with a net profit having jumped 13% despite the global financial crisis. The company report shows that it has sold seven times as many iPhones as the year ago period including 5.2 million units of its latest signature device.

"The numbers are great. Their gross profits continue to surprise people and there is a return to product momentum ... a return to growth in the Mac business," said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. "And then the iPhone is doing tremendously well and that is a potent combination."

A net profit of the company amounted $1.23 billion, or $1.35 a share, for its fiscal third quarter ended June 27, up from $1.07 billion, or $1.19 a share, in the year-ago period. The average Street forecasts for earnings per share were $1.18 with the most bullish "whisper" numbers of $1.30 to $1.35.

Apple reported it sold 2.6 million Macs, a 4% increase from the previous year, with 5.2 million iPhones sold in the June quarter, during which the company launched its third-generation iPhone 3GS and cut the price on the second-generation model to $99.

While in opinion of many people Apple iPhone is a consumer device the company reported that about 20% of Fortune 100 companies have bought at least 10,000 units and it is unable to make enough iPhone 3GSes to meet demand. At the moment Apple is working to make up this gap.