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| Apple earnings beat expectations as iPhone sales soar | Apple earnings beat expectations as iPhone sales soar |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Apple reported earnings of $18bn (£11.8bn) in the first quarter, a 40% increase from the same period a year earlier. | Apple reported earnings of $18bn (£11.8bn) in the first quarter, a 40% increase from the same period a year earlier. |
| Record sales of iPhones were behind the surge in profits. | Record sales of iPhones were behind the surge in profits. |
| Apple said it sold 74.5 million iPhones in the last three months of 2014, with a significant portion of those sales coming from China. | Apple said it sold 74.5 million iPhones in the last three months of 2014, with a significant portion of those sales coming from China. |
| However, sales of the iPad continued to disappoint, falling by 18% in 2014 from a year earlier. | However, sales of the iPad continued to disappoint, falling by 18% in 2014 from a year earlier. |
| "We'd like to thank our customers for an incredible quarter, which saw demand for Apple products soar to an all-time high," said Apple's chief executive Tim Cook in a statement accompanying earnings. | "We'd like to thank our customers for an incredible quarter, which saw demand for Apple products soar to an all-time high," said Apple's chief executive Tim Cook in a statement accompanying earnings. |
| The demand for Apple's larger iPhone 6 Plus model appeared to help boost profits and increase the iPhone's gross profit margin - or how much Apple makes per phone - by 2% to 39.9%. | |
| However, Apple declined to offer a specific breakdown of sales for the iPhone 6 and other models. | |
| Currency woes | |
| Apple's revenue grew to $74.6bn in 2014 - a 30% increase from a year earlier. | Apple's revenue grew to $74.6bn in 2014 - a 30% increase from a year earlier. |
| However, on a conference call to discuss earnings, Mr Cook complained of "fierce foreign exchange volatility", which added Apple to a growing list of US firms who have been hurt by the strong dollar abroad. | |
| Apple said that currency fluctuations shaved 4% from its first-quarter revenue. | |
| Sales in greater China were a bright spot, hitting $16bn in 2014 - a 70% increase from a year earlier, and almost equalling the $17bn in sales the company recorded in Europe during the whole of last year. | |
| A report by research firm Canalys released on Tuesday said that Apple had overtaken competitors to become China's number one seller of smartphones by units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2014. | A report by research firm Canalys released on Tuesday said that Apple had overtaken competitors to become China's number one seller of smartphones by units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2014. |
| Apple shares rose over 5% in trading after the US markets had closed. |