Apple has posted the largest profit ever for the last quarter after it sold a record quantity of iPhones. Apple in the last three months of 2014 sold 74.5 million iPhones. That helped the company’s profit to soar over 37% to more than $18 billion.
That is higher than Gazprom’s profit of $16.2 billion during the 2011 first quarter, the previous record profit posted by any corporation.
Apple posted sales for the quarter of $74.6 billion, which was 30% higher than the same period in 2013. That is not near a global record for a corporation, but is the best revenue for a quarter Apple has ever posted.
Interest in products by Apple is currently at its all time high and has shattered the highest expectations, said Tim Cook the CEO. He called the volume hard to comprehend.
Apple shares soared on Wednesday morning during trading before the bell by 9%.
Mac sales were higher by 15% to reach $5.5 million. Apple said sales at iTunes also reached a record, while sales of iPads continued to decline, falling by 18% to end the quarter at $21.4 million. However, the iPhone was the big story.
Cook said Apple sold 34,000 iPhones on average every hour.
The iPhone is now the best selling single gadget of all time. However, this past quarter, the smartphone outsold some gadgets made by an entire industry.
For example, the entire TV industry sold less than 60 million TVs during the most recently ended quarter. The tablet industry had 54 million units sold, said an online research company.
In fact, Apple’s smartphone came close to outselling the entire personal computer industry. Computer manufacturers sold less than 48 million laptops and desktops last quarter.
Apple until the past quarter had not sold over 51 million iPhones during any one quarter. However, that was prior to the agreement Apple reached with China Mobile, the biggest mobile provider in China, which started during the first three months of 2014.
The deal benefited Cupertino, California base Apple this past quarter. Sales in China for Apple soared by 70% this past quarter.