Apple posted unexpectedly successful quarterly results yesterday in the face of tight economic times.

Net profit had reached $1.21bn during the quarter; a notable rise from the $1.05bn attained in the same three-month period last year. Sales were also uncharacteristically up for a sector looking down, jumping 8.7 per cent to hit $8.16bn.

Driving Apple’s success was the iPhone, which itself sold more than 3.7million units worldwide in the first three months of the year; a 123 per cent increase on 2008. 

iPhone revenues hit $2.2bn for the quarter, while Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook attributed the devices’ success to strong consumer interest in downloading applications.

“The sum of the iPhone and iPod touch is now about 37m units,” he said, “so it provides an enormous platform for developers. It unleashes a whole new level of innovation that keeps Apple years ahead of everyone else.”

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Apple remained pessimistic when it came to forecasts, with revenues next quarter projected to reach $7.7bn to $7.9bn.