An i-popping Q1 for Apple

After seeing Apple’s first quarter sales, it’s no wonder more retailers are adopting a mobile-first mindset.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported a far better-than-expected 29.5% jump in quarterly revenue, driven by record sales of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus smartphones in the holiday shopping season and strong sales in China.

Apple says it sold 74.5 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 27 (analysts had predicted sales of 66 million). Revenue rose to $74.6 billion from $57.6 billion a year earlier. Last year Apple unveiled a slew of new products - - from larger-screened iPhones to refreshed Macs -- to rev up growth. The mobile push seems to have worked.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in a statement that demand for Apple products in the first quarter soared “to an all-time high.” The quarter that ends in December is typically the most lucrative period for the company because of the holiday shopping season. Cook added: “The volume is hard to comprehend. On average, Wall Street expected that 66.5 million iPhones would be sold. Doing the math, for every day of the quarter ended Dec. 27, Apple sold about 34,000 iPhones per hour."

Looking ahead, Cook said, the launch of the company’s new Apple Watch is on schedule and will hit stores in April. Analysts’ predictions about demand for the watch have varied wildly, with many fretting that it will be too small, too expensive and too redundant for most consumers who already have iPhones. “My expectations are very high,” Cook said. “I use it every day and I love it and I couldn’t live without it.”

Cook also said the new Apple Pay platform is off to a good start, accounting for two out of three contactless payments at retail stores, although the market remains small. Mobile payments at Whole Foods are up 400 percent since Apple Pay was introduced, he said.