iPhone sales double over last year
8.7 million handsets sold last quarter gives Apple record profits
An astonishing 8.7 million iPhone handsets were sold by Apple in last three months of 2009, giving rise to record profits for the company.
The $3.38 billion profit was helped in large part by a doubling of the number of iPhone devices sold over the same period last year.
Surprisingly, Apple reports that iPod sales were down during the period. A slight drop over the previous year put iPod sales at 21 million units. No specifics were provided on how many of those were iPod touch handsets versus iPod shuffle or video.
Such enormous sales puts Apple in an excellent position moving into a competitive 2010 where rivals Google and Microsoft hope to take on iPhone and iPod touch.
Moreover, Nintendo and Sony are expected to take the iPhone threat more seriously this year in the face of such momentum.
Then there's the anticipated iSlate announcement coming later this week. Early estimates point to the device being a game changer for the industry.
Needless to say, 2010 is looking mighty fine for the house that Steve Jobs has built.
