The company said it sold 51 million iPhones in the three months to the end of December last – that’s up 7% on the same period in 2012.

It also shifted 26 million iPads, a rise of 14% year-on-year, and almost 6.4 million Mac computers.

Apple generated sales of $57 billion (€41bn) and profits of $13 billion dollars during the quarter.

“We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes,” the Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement.

But shares in Apple plunged 8% after the results were released on the back of weaker-than-expected sales in the current quarter.

The company had been expecting a surge in iPhone sales in China after agreeing to make the smartphone available for sale with the country’s biggest mobile operator China Mobile.

Cook defended Apple’s progress in China.

“China Mobile has more subscribers than anyone in the world. They have three-quarters of a billion and so, I do see it as a watershed moment for Apple and have a very, very strong belief in the abilities of the two companies to do great things together.”

He said Apple was working on developing new products but didn't give specific details of new devices.