Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones in its fiscal third quarter, more than seven times as many as it sold during the same period last year, driving a 13 percent jump in its net profit to $1.23 billion.
Apple beat Wall Street estimates thanks in large part to the success of iPhone. According to a Reuters report, the company claims it's
not just consumers buying it up -- Apple says 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies have purchased 10,000 units, challenging its ability to make enough of the new iPhone 3GSes to meet demand.
The new model iPhone 3GS
sold 1 million units in just its first three days on sale, and the prior model 3G is discounted to $99.
Altogether, the iPhone and iPod Touch share a 45 million collective install base, the company says, a notably large number to support an increasingly large video game market in the company's App Store.
But as iPhones rise, iPod appears to be declining, shipping 7 percent fewer of the music players in the quarter than it did in the same period last year. To make up the shortfall, Apple is expected to launch an iPhone in China, among other initiatives.
