Apple boss Tim Cook hails results as 'most successful year ever'

Apple sold 48 million iPhones in the last three months - slightly lower than analysts expected, but the company still recorded a profit of 11.1 billion US dollars (£7.2 billion) in its latest financial results.

The Cupertino-based firm saw revenue climb from 42.1 billion US dollars (£27.5 billion) this time last year to 51.1 billion US dollars (£33.3 billion) in these results, with profit up by 2.6 billion US dollars (£1.6 billion).

The 48 million iPhones sold includes early sales of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which went on-sale in September, but once again Apple Watch sales numbers were not disclosed.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said: "Fiscal 2015 was Apple's most successful year ever, with revenue growing 28% to nearly 234 billion US dollars (£153bn). This continued success is the result of our commitment to making the best, most innovative products on earth, and it's a testament to the tremendous execution by our teams.

"We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product line-up yet, including iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple Watch with an expanded line-up of cases and bands, the new iPad Pro and the all-new Apple TV which begins shipping this week."

The importance of the Chinese market was also shown in the results, as it was the biggest market for Apple outside of the US, bringing in 12 billion US dollars (£7.8 billion) in revenue, a rise of 99% in one year.

IPad sales continued to steadily decline, with Apple reporting 9.8 million units sold, down 20% on this time last year, with 5.7 Macs also sold in the last three months.