Apple's Q4 profit rises 70% to $4.3 billion

Technology giant Apple Inc has reported a 70 per cent jump in net profit to $4.3 billion in the fourth quarter of the year, driven by robust sales of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.

The company had a net profit of $2.53 billion in July to September quarter of 2009, Apple said in a statement.

The maker of iPhones generated a record revenue of $20.34 billion in the fourth quarter ended September 25, 2010 as compared to a revenue of $12.2 billion in the year -ago period.

"We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings, both all -time records for Apple," the company's CEO Steve Jobs said.

During the quarter, Apple sold 14.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 91 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

"iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up by 91 percent year- over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter. We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year," Jobs added.

Besides, Apple sold 3.89 million Macs, a 27 per cent unit increase from the year earlier. The company also sold 4.19 million iPads during the quarter. However, sales of iPods declined by 11 per cent from year-ago period to 9.05 million during the quarter under review.

Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, the tech firm expects revenue of about $23 billion. Meanwhile, the company said it has generated about $5.7 billion in cash flow from its operations during the quarter.