Apple sells nearly 40m iPhones in last quarter, driving $8.5bn profit

Ben Bold

October 21, 2014

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Apple sells nearly 40m iPhones in last quarter, driving $8.5bn profit

Apple sold nearly 40 million iPhones in its fourth quarter and grew its year-on-year profits by 12% to $8.5bn (£5.26bn), but iPad sales fell 13% compared to the same period last year.

Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus: contribute to a 12% boost the company's sales

For the three months ending 27 September 2014, Apple reported that sales increased by 12% to $42.1bn, with much of that accounted for by its offloading of 39.3 million iPhones.

However, sales of the iPad fell 13%, the third consecutive quarter they have fallen. Last week Apple launched the – its thinnest model yet – which the company hopes will turn around ailing tablet revenues.

Speaking about this week’s financial results, chief executive Tim Cook described Apple's fiscal year as "one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus".

He said: "With amazing innovations in our new iPhones, iPads and Macs, as well as iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, we are heading into the holidays with Apple’s strongest product line-up ever.

"We are also incredibly excited about Apple Watch and other great products and services in the pipeline for 2015."

Other new products include yesterday’s launch of mobile payment service Apple Pay, which will become available on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPad Air 2, and new iMac and Mac Mini desktop computers.