Apple Inc on Monday reported better-than-expected earnings as its revenue jumped 27 per cent at $58 billion in Q2, from $45.65 billion a year earlier, on account of strong iPhone sales.

The iPhone maker posted net profit of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per share, for its second quarter ended March 28, 2015, from $10.22bn, or $1.66 per share, a year earlier

The company said that the iPhone sales witnessed a 40 per cent jump to 61.2 million units.

The number of iPads sold fell 23 per cent to 12.6 million and the number of Mac computers sold increased 10 per cent to 4.6 million.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

“We’re seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we’ve experienced in previous cycles, and we’re off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch,” he added.

The strong Q2 results pushed the Apple's shares up to 1.2 per cent at $134.38 in after-hours trading.

Apple also increased the amount of shares it plans to repurchase to $140 billion from $90 billion and raised its quarterly dividend 11 per cent to 52 cents a share.

Up to Monday's close, Apple’s stock had risen about 53 per cent in the past 12 months

Demand for Apple Watch

Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook said demand continued to outstrip supply for the new Apple Watch, released earlier this month.

"From a demand point of view, it's hard to gauge when you don't have product in stores," said Cook.

He further said the iPhone "led the way" in its massive increase in China sales.

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