Apple products popular as ever

Shoppers still love Apple products, as evidenced by record unit sales for the iPhone and iPad.

Apple sales increased 5.7% to $57.6 billion from $54.5 billion during the company’s first quarter ended December 28 thanks to record sales of its flagship products.

The company sold a record 51 million iPhones compared to 47.8 million last year and iPad sales increased to 26 million units from 22.9 million last year. The biggest percentage gain came from the Mac business where units sold increased to 4.8 million from 4.1 million.

The sales growth did not translate to the bottom line as net income of $13.1 billion was essentially flat with the prior year and gross margins contracted to 37.9% from 38.6%. Earnings per share increased to $14.50 from $13.81 due to share repurchase activity with totaled $7.7 billion during the quarter.

“We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We love having the most satisfied, loyal and engaged customers, and are continuing to invest heavily in our future to make their experiences with our products and services even better.”

The company announced a $3.05 share dividend.