Apple full-year profits rise 85%

The world's biggest technology company Apple has reported full year results, showing net profit for the year to 25 September at $25.9bn (£16.5bn), up 85% from the previous year.

Even that was not enough to satisfy Wall Street, with the shares falling nearly 5% in after-hours trading. There was some disappointment with the fourth quarter of the year, when no major new products were released.

It is the first set of results since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. In the fourth quarter of the year, Apple sold 17.1 million iPhones, which was a 21% increase on the same period last year, and 11.1 million iPads, which was a 166% increase.

But analysts had been expecting iPhone sales of 20 million in the quarter. Apple said sales were hurt in September by customers waiting for the new version, the iPhone 4S, which was released on 14 October.

It sold four million of the new models in the first three days after launch. "The numbers came in weak. They need to set records every time they report to keep up the momentum," said Colin Gillis, analyst at BGC Partners. Apple sold 4.9 million Mac computers in the quarter - up 27% over the same period last year.

"The numbers are actually quite good. The reason why the stock is off - I think some of the analysts got carried away," said Shaw Wu, analyst at Sterne Agee.

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