Aple WWDC
Apple CEO Tim Cook at WWDC last year. (Via Apple)

Apple posted record revenue of $78.4 billion for the December quarter, returning to overall growth as unit sales of the iPhone climbed nearly 5 percent to 78.3 million units during the peak shopping season. The tech giant reported earnings per share of $3.36; analysts polled in advance of the report expected earnings of $3.22 per share on revenue of $77.38 billion.

Shares were up more than 2 percent in after-hours trading.

The results followed three consecutive quarters of year-over-year revenue declines for the company. Sales of the iPad slipped 19 percent to 13 million units, and Mac sales were up 1 percent to just under 5.4 million units for the quarter.

The company’s revenue from services, including digital content, AppleCare, Apple Pay and licensing, climbed to more than $7.1 billion for the quarter, up 13 percent from the September quarter.

“We’re thrilled to report that our holiday quarter results generated Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, and broke multiple records along the way. We sold more iPhones than ever before and set all-time revenue records for iPhone, Services, Mac and Apple Watch,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in the company’s earnings release. “Revenue from Services grew strongly over last year, led by record customer activity on the App Store, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.”

The results include sales for the holiday shopping season, during which Apple’s primary smartphone rival, Samsung, was hobbled by the recall and discontinuation of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

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