Apple's third quarter financial earnings might have fallen short of Wall Streets expectations but the company did experience growth for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, even if it wasn't quite as much as analysts predicted. Some of that growth can be attributed to the new iPad, or iPad 3 as it is colloquially know. Apple CEO Tim Cook this week revealed that the iPad has sold 17 million units. That's 17 million units in the last 90 days, by the way. Apple hasn't said how many it's sold since the March 16 release, but the 17 million represents an 84 percent increase over the number of iPads sold in the same quarter last year.
"We're thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We've also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we've got in the pipeline."
iPads aside, Apple sold 26.0 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 28 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. The company sold 4 million Macs during the quarter, a two percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The only product line to decline was the iPod. Apple once again announced a decline in iPod sales. This quarter the company shifted 6.8 million iPods, a 10 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
The news comes as Apple celebrates the launch of OSX Mountain Lion, which was released today and costs $20. The company is also reportedly preparing the launch of the newest iPhone. The follow-on to the iPhone 4S, it's not yet clear what this phone will be called. While some believe Apple will go with the 'iPhone 5' moniker, others think the company will drop the numerical names altogether, just like it did with the latest iPad.
