Apple Inc.'s profits surge 93%

Robust demand for iPhones drove Apple Inc.'s profits even higher, as the Silicon Valley company on Tuesday reported a 93 per cent surge in net income for its fiscal second quarter.

Apple said profits hit $11.6 billion US, or $12.30 a share, up from $6 billion for the same period last year. Revenue climbed 59 per cent to $39.2 billion.

Torrid sales of its smartphones swatted away concerns that competitors had come up with devices to cut into Apple's market share. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said it sold 35 million iPhones in the three-month period, or nearly double the total in the same timeframe last year.

The figures blew away market expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected the company to earn $10.07 per share on sales of $37 billion, and shares in Apple, which reported its results after stock markets closed, were down two per cent on concerns the company might not even hit those targets.

After the earnings announcement, Apple's stock jumped seven per cent, or nearly $40 US, to above $599 in after-hours trading.

Apple has been the most valuable publicly traded company in the world for most of the last nine months, ever since it surpassed oil giant Exxon Mobil. 

Its meteoric rise from a floundering, niche computer company to a pioneer of the mobile-device revolution is one of the technology world's great triumphal narratives of the last decade. The company was booking multibillion-dollar losses in the mid-1990s as its stock price sagged to $12.75 (adjusting for splits since then), before it brought back co-founder Steve Jobs as CEO in 1997.

Jobs's death last October from cancer spooked investors who feared the company would suffer without his visionary helmsmanship. But Apple turned a record profit in January as it challenged Samsung for the title of the world's largest smartphone manufacturer.

Mac sales weak

Not all was roses in Tuesday's earnings announcement. iPad sales came in below analyst expectations, at 11.8 million units. But that was still 2½ times as many as Apple sold in the same quarter a year ago.

Sales of Mac computers were also slightly below expectations, at 4 million.

The relative strength of iPhone sales means they accounted for 58 per cent of Apple's revenue, more than ever. Three years ago, the figure was 27 per cent.

As has been the trend the last year, Asia, and in particular China, accounted for much of the revenue growth. A quarter of Apple's sales now come from Asia, excluding Japan.  

Motorola prevails early in patent dispute

Also Tuesday, a judge for the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple infringed a patent held by Motorola and dismissed several other of Motorola's claims.

The ITC's six commissioners now have until August to review the ruling. If they don't, it stands.

Apple and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. have accused each other of patent infringement in courts in the U.S. and Europe, and at the ITC. The ITC has the power to block imports of Apple products found in violation, as they are made abroad.

Google Inc. is buying Motorola for $12.5 billion and is interested in the firm’s thousands of patents.

Apple said it was glad the judge ruled in its favour in three of the four patents. Motorola also said it was pleased.