iPhones drive Apple profits to $4.3bn

Profit at Apple soared 70 per cent to $4.3 billion (£2.7bn) in its most recent quarter on strong sales of iPhones, although iPad sales fell short of expectations.

Shares, which came under selling pressure following the results late on Monday, had been hitting record levels on high hopes for the iPad tablet-style computer. Apple sold 4.2 million of the new devices during its financial fourth quarter, fewer than the five million that analysts, on average, had expected.

The company sold 14.1 million iPhones from July through September, more than the 12 million or so Wall Street had been looking for.

Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said that had the firm been able to make more iPhones, that number would have been even higher. Sales of the iPad might have been constrained by supply issues.