Apple still extremely healthy

Once again, Apple, the world's most valuable publicly traded company, reported a marked increase in sales and earnings as it published its second-quarter figures in San Francisco.

Above all, Apple logged a steep rise in iPhone sales, with 35 million units finding customers around the globe. It helped propel a staggering 93-percent rise in profit year-on-year, with earning totaling $11.6 billion (8.79 billion euros).

iPhone sales were particularly strong in the greater China region, blowing past Wall Street expectations and soothing fears the device might be past its best days of sharp growth.

"The room to grow in China is still very large, especially because Apple hasn't started working with China Mobile," said Mike Fang, a fund manager with Paradigm Asset Management in Taipei. "It'll keep the growth momentum going even when global iPhone sales are expected to drop," Fang told Reuters news agency.

Dispelling market skepticism

China Mobile is the world's largest mobile operators in terms of subscribers, and it's the only Chinese carrier that does not have a contract with Apple to sell iPhones.

Apple managed to sell 11.8 million iPads, marking a 151-percent increase on the year. It also booked a 7-percent jump in Mac sales, with four million units sold in the second quarter. Only the sale of iPods dropped by 15 percent to 7.7 million pieces.

The company's Q2 report came after is shares had declined markedly over the past couple of weeks in unusually volatile trading, with investors fretting over potential pricing pressures.

hg/sgb (Reuters, dpa)