Apple Q309 profits $1.23bn; best non-holiday quarter yet

Apple have announced their Q3 2009 financial results, and as you might expect they're continuing to buck the economic trend.  The Cupertino company described the last quarter as their best non-holiday quarter for revenue and earnings, marking revenue of $8.34 billion and profits of $1.23 billion.  Sales figures were also healthy, with 2.6m Mac computers sold during the three month period – up 4-percent over the same quarter last year – and 5.2m iPhones sold, up 626-percent from last year.

That healthy iPhone figure, mind, doesn't highlight the fact that Apple now sell the smartphone in many more geographical locations across the globe than they did this time last year.  Apple also reported 10.2 million iPods sold, a 7-percent decline from last year.

Demand for the iPhone 3GS still outstrips production capacity in just about every country it's sold, Apple claim, and the firm once again attempted to squash netbook rumors.  Telling analysts that they aim "to make the best computers" rather than the most, Apple executives highlighted "disappointment" of many netbook buyers who become "disenchanted" with their underpowered machines as a key sign that the segment is still underdeveloped.