Apple posts record third-quarter sales with iPhone 3GS

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IPod sales fell 7% to 10.2 million units in the third quarter, as consumers bought 5.2 million iPhones and sales of iPod Touches grew 130%, helping to cushion the drop in iPod sales. Credit: Apple.

Apple Inc. this afternoon posted its best June quarter ever, bolstered by blistering sales of its iPhone 3GS and its iPod Touches. The Cupertino, Calif., company rung up $8.3 billion in sales in its third quarter ended June 27, up 12% from $7.5 billion a year ago.

Profit also grew 14.6% from a year ago to $1.2 billion.

Apple shares, which have climbed 67% this year, surged as much as 4.6% in after-hours trading following the earnings release. It had closed down $1.40, or 1%, to $151.51.

‘We are very proud of this result particularly given the economic environment around us,’ Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said during a conference call with analysts. Oppenheimer noted that the company saw its biggest quarterly revenue outside of the winter holiday season.

Apple said it sold 5.2 million iPhones, 10.2 million iPods and 2.6 million Macintosh computers. Sales of Mac desktops increased 4% from the second quarter and laptops jumped 25% in the same period, despite a projected 3% contraction in the PC market in the quarter, according to estimates from IDC.

Sales of iPods, a product that helped put Apple on the map as a hip technology company, declined 7% to 10.2 million units, down from 11 million iPods sold in the same quarter last year. Oppenheimer said the company expected the decline as Apple customers opt to buy iPhones as their digital music player, among other functions. Sales of iPod Touches, the premium-priced player that has the same touch screen as the iPhone, grew 130%, helping to cushion the drop in iPod sales.

-- Alex Pham

Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham.