Apple Posts Record Profits, Revenue, iPhone Sales

During the last quarter of 2012, Apple hit the trifecta: it sold more iPhones than ever before, enjoyed a higher quarterly revenue than ever before, which then led to a greater quarterly profit than the company had ever seen before.

In the October-to-December period, Apple took in $54.5 billion, up from the $46.3 billion that the company's revenue was during the same quarter a year ago. This led to a profit of $13.1 billion, up just a hair year over year.

Sales Are Good

During Q4 of 2012, Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones. This is significantly above the 37+ million smartphones the company sold in the same quarter the year before.

In the same vein, the company sold 22.9 million iPads in Q4 2012, compared to 15.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Apple sold 12.7 million iPods in the quarter, compared to 15.4 million in the year-ago quarter. This reflects the slowing demand for this type of device, as people switch to the iPhone or iPad instead.

During a conference call with investors after these results were announced, Apple CEO Tim Cook pointed out that his company sold over 50 million iOS smartphones and tablets in the fourth quarter of last year -- roughly 10 per second. As Cook said, Apple has now sold "over half a billion iOS devices".