Apple Announces record result after sales surge in China

Apple sells 61.2m iPhones in first three months of 2015 and brought in revenues of %58bn, but latest numbers do not include Apple Watch

Dominic Rushe in New York

Apple sold 61.2m iPhones in first three months of 2015, recording a revenues of $58bn as strong sales from China propelled the tech company to another record quarter.

This quarter, Apple was aided by strong sales of the new iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 Plus in China during the Chinese New Year in February. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected Apple to sell 58.1m iPhones and for the company to report revenues of $56bn.

The numbers paled in comparison to last quarter of 2014 when Apple sold a record 74.5m iPhones. Those sales underpinned $18bn in profit for the quarter, the largest in corporate history. But the end of the year is traditionally Apple's best month thanks to Christmas sales.

The latest numbers do not include Apple Watch, which was available for pre-orders on 10 April and went on sale on 24 April. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive officer, may update analysts about the new product on a conference call later this afternoon but the company has said it will not break out Watch sales separately.

Slice Intelligence, which compiles sales estimates from an online survey panel, has estimated close to a million Apple Watches were pre-ordered in the US on the first day they went on sale. Estimates for the popularity of the watches have varied widely with analysts predicting the company could sell between 16m and 60m in the first 12 months.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said Cook. “We're seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we've experienced in previous cycles, and we're off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch.”