While its revenue grew 67% to $20.3bn, sales of its tablet computer in the three months to September disappointed analysts, many of whom had been expecting levels up to five million.
The stockmarket reacted accordingly and Apple’s shares slipped nearly 6% in after-hours trading.
However, Apple's revenues beat forecasts by 10% and profits were 5% higher than expected.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, was on ebullient form when speaking to analysts in a rare appearance yesterday evening, to discuss Apple’s results.
He said: "I couldn’t help dropping by for our first $20bn quarter."
He credited much of Apple's strong performance to higher-than-expected sales of the iPhone, which were up 91% on the same quarter last year.
He also used the results as a platform from which to criticise other competitors, saying that the iPhone was now more popular than Research in Motion's BlackBerry (based on the latter's most recent quarterly sales of 12.1 million phones).
Jobs also hinted strongly that Apple would use its $50bn cash pile to fund a sizeable acquisition, saying: "We strongly believe one or more very strategic opportunities may come along that we’re uniquely positioned to take advantage of," he said.
"We won’t let it burn a hole in our pocket or motivate us to do stupid things."
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