Apple forecast a strong holiday quarter on Monday after a better-than-expected 16 percent jump in iPhone sales, and the strongest growth in Mac computer shipments "in years," helping the company surpass Wall Street expectations.
The company projected stronger-than-expected revenue of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion in December quarter, when new iPhones and iPads with rival devices from Microsoft and Amazon.com for consumers' holidays outlays.
Company shares rose 1.3 percent to around $101.10 in after-hours trade, according to Reuters.
Apple said sales of the iPad slide for the third straight quarter. A decline in tablet demand worldwide has worried investors already worried with Apple's slowing growth, who are now waiting for a new device to energize its expansion.
Apple's tablet sales dropped more than 7 percent from the previous quarter to 12.3 million units and were down 13 percent compared to a year ago.
Some investors believe that Apple's new alliance with International Business Machines Corp (IBM) could help reverse a decline in tablet sales.
Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said in an interview that the pair of tech giants had already signed on 50 "foundational" or initial clients, according to Reuters. The two plan on introducing their first jointly designed apps next month.
"The level of interest from the corporate world has been incredible," Maestri said.
Orders for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus began in September, helping Apple chalk up a 12.2 percent jump in revenue last quarter to $42.12 billion. Wall Street analysts predicted it would be closer to $39.9 billion.
The new iPhone marks Apple's best product launch on record. That helped push overall smartphones sales to 39.27 million in the September quarter, which is more than the 38 million some on Wall Street predicted.
Maestri confirmed that that the new iPhones had already surpassed the previous-generation model in terms of volume, according to Reuters. Apple also recorded its strongest percentage growth in Mac sales, of 21 percent to 5.5 million units, since the December quarter of 2011.
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