Apple Beats Fiscal Projections As iPhone Sales Double

Apple's quarterly profits rose nearly 50 percent on revenue growth of 32 percent year-over-year, as iPhone sales doubled over the same quarter in the previous year. In fiscal Q1 2010, which ended December 26, 2009, Apple's profits hit $3.38 billion, from $2.26 billion in Q1 2009, and its revenue climbed to $15.68 billion from $11.88 billion. Part of that can be pinned on a surge in iPhone sales. The company sold 8.7 million units of the phone and entertainment/gaming device in Q1, up 102 percent from 4.3 million units the previous year. The iPhone may be partially cannibalizing sales of its less-multitasking iPod cousin, however: iPod sales actually declined 7.5 percent year-over-year, from 22.7 million units to a still-substantial 21 million. Overall, iPhone and iPod unit sales combined were up 10 percent, with the company's game-dominated App Store continuing to surge in popularity. Bolt Creative's Pocket God has just become the first App to sell 2 million units. Apple saw a more clear-cut boost in sales of its pricier Mac laptops, which rose 33 percent from 2.5 million to 3.36 million. The company also realized a relative financial gain by changing how it records iPhone sales: it now books that revenue up front, while it previously deferred it over the device's projected lifetime. The results, which beat Wall Street's expectations of roughly flat revenue, come just days before Apple is expected to announce its next major product: a portable tablet computing device.