Apple doubles profits in first quarter

Tech heavyweight Apple has seen its quarterly profits almost double - reaching $11.6 billion (£7.2 billion) in the first three months of 2012.

Year-on-year this is an increase of $5.6 billion and is primarily down to the huge popularity of the company's iPhone.

Some 35 million iPhone handsets were sold between the start of January and the end of March - which is double the amount sold a year ago.

Thanks to the strong start-of-year performance, Apple shares leapt to $601 each - a seven per cent rise.

Total revenue at the firm, which stood at $39.2 billion for the quarter, was far above the company's target of $32.5 billion and even outstripped the Wall Street forecast of $36.6 billion.

Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said: "We're thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter."

He added that Apple would continue to innovate throughout 2012, hinting that the iPhone 5 could well be released in time for Christmas.