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Apple reported record breaking profits for the three months to 31 December 2011 of £8.36 billion ($13.06 billion)- more than doubling  up 118% from the same period in 2010.The company also sold 37 million iPhones- more than twice as many as they sold in the last quarter of 2010.

“Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline,” said chief executive Tim Cook.

The firm is expected to release its iPad 3 in March this year.

“We are very happy to have generated over $17.5bn in cash flow from operations during the December quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.

“Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, we expect revenue of about £20.96 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about £5.48 ($8.50).”

Apple saw strong sales for both its iPads and its Mac range of computers, rising 111% and 26% respectively compared to the same period in 2010.

Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of design, has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.Mr Ive, who can now call himself Sir Jonathan has been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE).

Raised in Chingford, Mr Ive began working for Apple in 1992 and since then has been the brains behind many of its products.

He described the honour as “absolutely thrilling” and said he was “both humbled and sincerely grateful”.

Mr Ive added: “I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making. I discovered at an early age that all I’ve ever wanted to do is design.”

Mr Ive has been lauded for the tight fit between form and function seen in Apple gadgets such as the iPod and iPhone.

Born in February 1967, Mr Ive inherited a love of making things from his father, a silversmith, and reportedly spent much of his youth taking things apart to see how they worked.

From the age of 14, he said, he knew he was interested in drawing and making “stuff” and this led him to Northumbria Polytechnic – now Northumbria University – where he studied industrial design.

On graduation he started work as a commercial designer and then, with three friends, founded a design agency called Tangerine.

One of the clients for the agency was Apple which was so impressed with the work he did on a prototype notebook that it offered him a full time job.

Mr Ive was apparently frustrated during his early years at Apple as the company was then suffering a decline. Everything changed, however, in 1995 when Steve Jobs returned to the company he helped found.

Mr Jobs described Mr Ive as his “spiritual partner” in the recent biography of the Apple co-founder written by Walter Isaacson. However, it also said that Mr Ive was “hurt” by Mr Jobs taking credit for innovations that came from the design team.

Mr Ive’s eye for design combined effectively with Mr Jobs’ legendary attention to detail and the products that have emerged from the company since the late 1990s have turned Apple into the biggest and most influential technology company on the planet.

The knighthood is the second time Mr Ive has been recognised in the honour’s list. In 2005 he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE).

Apple and five publishers are to be investigated over claimed anti-competitive practice in the ebook market, says the European Union’s anti-trust watchdog.As well as Apple, the inquiry will also examine Hachette Livre, Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck.

The Commission said it would focus on alleged illegal agreements restricting competition in the EU.

The UK’s Office of Fair Trading has already carried out a similar inquiry.

The character and terms of agreements that the companies made with agencies are to be examined for breaches of EU rules on cartels, the Commission said.

The Office of Fair Trading has now finished its own investigation, but continues to work closely with the Commission, which is extending the scope of the inquiry across the whole of Europe.

The Commission carried out “unannounced inspections” on the companies in March 2011 as part of its investigations at premises in several European countries.

Apple’s iBook store, which supplies ebooks to the company’s iPad tablet computer and the iPhone, is likely to come under scrutiny.

The world’s most valuable technology company Apple Inc has reported an 85% rise in its full year results.Net profit for the year ending 24 September was £16.5 billion.

However, its shares fell more than 5% in after-hours trading after fourth quarter iPhone sales were weaker than experts predicted.

Overall revenues totalled £17.66 billion for the three months- which was nearly £660 million less than Wall Street forecasts.

It is the first time that Apple has missed analysts’ sales forecasts since 2008.

During a conference call, chief executive Tim Cook suggested demand for the iPhone 4 had been dampened by rumours that a new model was about to be released.

“The reduction happened largely in the back half of the quarter as the speculation hit extreme highs,” said Mr Cook.

“However, we’re thrilled to be shipping the new iPhone 4S… and we’re very confident that we will set an all-time record in the December quarter for iPhone sales.”

Apple sold 17.1 million iPhones in the last quarter. That was a 21% increase on the same period last year, but analysts had expected sales of 20 million.

The firm said handset orders had also been affected by a decision to delay new partnerships.

“We opted to defer adding new carriers or countries during the September quarter knowing that we would launch the iPhone 4S very early in the October month, and we wanted to launch our new carriers with our latest products so we waited,” said chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer.

The earnings are the first to be released by Apple since the death of its co-founder Steve Jobs.

Mr Cook marked the occasion by paying tribute to his predecessor.

“Steve was a great leader and mentor and inspired everyone at Apple to do extraordinary things,” he said.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for all of the condolences and expressions of support that we have received following Steve’s passing.”

Despite the iPhone figures Apple said it was “thrilled” by the results.

It sold 11.12 million iPads over the latest quarter, which was a 166% rise on the same period last year.

Sales of the Mac computers totalled 4.89 million, a 26% rise and an all-time record.

Mr Cook said he was particularly excited by China, where sales are growing at a “feverish” pace.

Greater China revenue accounted for 16% of Apple’s revenue in the fourth quarter, up from 2% in 2009.

“Certainly in my lifetime, I’ve never seen a country with as many people rising into the middle class that aspire to buy products that Apple makes,” Mr Cook said.

He said the company was also focussing on Brazil where sales had increased 118% over the past year, topping £562 million.

Apple warned that the recent flooding in Thailand might cause it problems sourcing hard discs and components for its Macs.

“I’m virtually certain there will be an overall industry shortage of disc drives as a result of the disaster,” said Mr Cook.

Apple co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs, died on Wednesday at the age of 56, after a  multi year long battle with pancreatic cancer.Jobs’ death was announced by Apple in a statement late yesterday. The Apple.com homepage features a black and white picture (above) of him with the words “Steve Jobs, 1955-2011″.

A message on the site read: “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.

“Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

The Silicon Valley icon who gave the world the MAC, the iPod, the iPad and the iPhone had resigned as chief executive of the world’s largest technology corporation in August, handing the reins to current chief executive Tim Cook.

A survivor of a rare form of pancreatic cancer, he was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve,” Apple said in a statement announcing Jobs’ passing.

“His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

Job’s health had been a controversial topic for years. His battle with cancer had been a deep concern to Apple fans, investors and the company’s board alike.

In past years, even board members have confided to friends their concern that Jobs, in his quest for privacy, wasn’t being forthcoming enough with directors about the true condition of his health.

Now, despite investor confidence in Cook, who has stood in for his boss during three leaves of absence, there remain concerns about whether the company would stay a creative force to be reckoned with beyond the next year or so without its founder and visionary at the helm.

The news triggered an immediate outpouring of sympathy. Among others, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he will miss Jobs “immensely”.

A college dropout, Buddhist and son of adoptive parents, Jobs started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in the late 1970s. The company soon introduced the Apple 1 computer.

But it was the Apple II that became a huge success and gave Apple its position as a critical player in the then-nascent PC industry, culminating in a 1980 IPO that made Jobs a multimillionaire.

Despite the subsequent success of the Mac, Jobs’ relationship with top management and the board soured. The company removed most of his powers and then in 1985 he was fired.

Apple’s fortunes waned after that. However, its purchase of NeXT – the computer company Jobs founded after leaving Apple – in 1997 brought him back into the fold. Later that year, he became interim CEO and in 2000, the company dropped “interim” from his title.

Along the way Jobs also had managed to revolutionize computer animation with his other company, Pixar, but it was the iPhone in 2007 that capped his legacy in the annals of modern technology history.

Two years before the gadget that forever transformed the way people around the world access and use the Internet, Jobs talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.

“Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Apple has unveiled the latest iteration in its iPhone range, but there was no sign of the widely rumoured iPhone 5.The iPhone 4S, as the model will be known, boasts an improved camera, an extra antenna for faster loading, voice recognition software and a significantly extended battery life.

It will run the latest iOS5 operating system, which is set for release on 12 October.

The event was the first major announcement for new boss Tim Cook who took over from Steve Jobs in August.

The iPhone 4S, which will go on sale on 14 October, will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models – in both black and white.

It has the same look and feel as the existing iPhone 4 which was launched 15 months ago.

However, Apple said that updates to iOS meant the phone would boast some “200 new features”.

Shares in Apple fell by almost 5% within minutes of the eagerly anticipated launch, with analysts saying that investors and Apple fans had expected the latest version to be a more radical improvement over its predecessor.

However, the company’s shares later regained most of their losses to close down just 0.6%, albeit underperforming the NASDAQ index as a whole.

Among the additions is  a voice recognition software or a “intelligent assistant” that allows users to ask questions aloud and receive detailed answers back.

Siri, which began life as a third-party app, was purchased by Apple in 2010 but has yet to appear within its software.

Details of the new phone were unveiled by Apple’s Philip Schiller

For Apple’s new chief executive, the event was as much about making a statement about his leadership as it was new products.

Tim Cook had previously acted as interim boss, looking after the company while Steve Jobs was on sick leave.

Unlike his charismatic predecessor, Mr Cook left the biggest announcement of Tuesday’s event to a colleague – marketing boss Phil Schiller.

Apple’s iPad has captured 80% of the tablet computer market in the US in April to July new reserach has found.The iPad accounted for six million of all 7.5 million tablets shipped in North America during the second quarter of 2011, according to research group Strategy Analytics.

It described Apple as a “formidable market leader”.

Yet they added that Amazon – which has unveiled its own tablet yesterday – could become a big challenger.

Stategy Analytics senior analyst Alex Spektor said: “Apple remains a long way ahead of its main rivals such as Motorola, Samsung, RIM, Asus and HTC.

“A combination of cool branding, user-friendly hardware, entertaining services and savvy retail distribution has made Apple a formidable market leader.”

“Provided the pricing, screen size and hardware design are right, Amazon can be one of the main challengers to Apple’s dominance,” said Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics.

“Like Apple, Amazon has a strong brand, compelling content, sophisticated billing systems and widespread distribution.

“In effect, Amazon’s new tablet product represents a good opportunity to place an Amazon shopping cart in the hands of American consumers, offering optimised access to purchasing digital content or physical goods from the Amazon online store.”

The continuing popularity of Apple’s iPad comes despite its incompatibility with Adobe Flash software, meaning that users cannot view a large number of online videos.

Rivals such as Samsung are quick to highlight in their advertising that their tablets are able to use Flash.

Apple and Samsung, which makes the Galaxy range of tablets, are also continuing a number of legal disputes over patents.

The iPad was first released in April 2010, with the second version, the iPad 2, following in March of this year.

Apple’s new rules for iPad and iPhone apps payments have been criticised after they forced Amazon to change the Kindle app to make buying new books more complicated.The new terms and conditions, which mean publishers must give Apple 30 per cent of the price of any content they sell via apps, came into force on 30 June.

In response, in July, Amazon removed a “Kindle Store” link within its app in order to preserve its profit margin on e-books.

Kindle app users are still able to buy more books, but they must exit the app and navigate to the Kindle Store via the iPad or iPhone web browser.

But the change has left users confused and angry. On the iTunes page for the app, some indicated they didn’t understand the new purchasing process.

“Pointless update,” said SJH31. “Wish I didn’t update now. What’s the point if I can’t buy books.” and “In reality Apple didn’t like the competition and so has hamstrung apps like Kindle. Shameful from Apple.”

Those who did understand the change overwhelmingly blamed Apple.

Apple is competing with Amazon via iBooks, which still allows users to make purchases from within the app. The rule change has forced Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Google to make similar changes to their e-books apps too.

Apple’s rivalry with Amazon is expected to intensify, with the online retail giant reportedly poised to expand its range of gadgets beyond e-readers to include a full colour touchscreen tablet.

Steve Jobs originally announced the new apps payments regime in February.

Apple has since softened it slightly by allowing publishers to charge more for content in apps than they do on their own website, where they do not have to pay a 30 per cent cut to a third party.

Apple inc (AAPL) now has more cash to spend than the United States of America’s government.
Latest figures from the US Treasury Department show that the country has an operating cash balance of $73.7 billion (£45.3 billion).

Apple’s most recent financial results put its reserves at $76.4 billion (£47.75 billion).

The US House of Representatives has just voted to raise the country’s overdraft debt ceiling, allowing it to borrow more money to cover spending commitments.

The United States is currently spending around $200bn more than it collects in revenue every month.

Apple, on the other hand, is making money hand over fist, according to its financial results. In the three months ending 25 June, net income was 125% higher than a year earlier at £4.56 billion ($7.31 billion).

With more than $75bn either sitting in the bank or in easily accessible assets, there has been enormous speculation about what the company will do with the money.

Industry watchers believe that it is building up a war chest to be used for strategic acquisitions of other businesses, and to secure technology patents with Bookstore Barnes and Noble and the online movie site Netflix possible targets.

The company may also have its eye on smaller firms that develop systems Apple might want to add to its devices, such as voice recognition.

Apple dipped into some of its reserves recently when it teamed-up with Microsoft to buy a group of technology patents from the bankrupt telecom firm Nortel.

The bidding consortium paid $4.5 billion (£2.81 billion) for more than 6,000 telecommunication patents.

Apple’s latest profits soared past expectations as sales of its best known iPhone and iPad products more than doubled.
Net income was £4.6 billion in the three months to 25 June, 125% higher than a year earlier and a record quarterly profit for the firm. Revenue was £17.87 billion, also a quarterly record.

Apple sold more than 20 million iPhones in the quarter and 9.25 million iPads. However, iPod sales continued to slip, down by 20% to 7.54 million units.

The results assuaged concerns about the supply of the iPad 2, partly because of parts supply interruptions caused by Japan’s tsunami and earthquake in March.

Apple chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, said: “We are extremely pleased with our performance. Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2011, we expect revenue of about $25bn.”

Mr Oppenheimer also said that Lion, the new version of the Mac OS X operating system, will go on sale Wednesday.  The Lion software mimics some of the features of the iPhone and iPad interface.

The company has a reputation for being conservative with its forecasts.

Apple shares (AAPL) jumped 5.3% in extended after hours trading to their highest for a year.

The price had suffered after its founder and Chief Executive, Steve Jobs, took a long term break last January for medical reasons.

The future stewardship of the company remains an open question. On Tuesday the Wall Street Journal was reporting that several Apple board members had discussed a successor to Mr Jobs, and had talked about the matter with at least one head of a high-profile tech company.

Another uncertainty for the company is a web of patent battles with rivals.

It claims Taiwanese rival HTC has infringed its patents, with HTC claiming a number of infringements against Apple.  Apple is also in dispute over the rights to technology with South Korea’s Samsung and US competitor Motorola.