Apple's Earnings Rise 33 Pct on Stronger iPhone Sales in China

Apple Inc topped analysts revenue and profit forecasts on Monday after the company announced it sold more iPhones in China than the United States for the first time.

The average selling price of an iPhone during the latest quarter was $659, up more than $60 compared with a year earlier.

Since the beginning of 2015 the company's revenue hit a staggering $58 billion with $13.6 billion in net profit.

Apple's iPhone sales in China soared, increasing its revenue in the country 71 percent to $16.8 billion, although that was helped by gift-buying for Chinese New Year.

Regarding its new product, the Apple watch, CEO Tim Cook said demand for the watch continued to be greater than supply, as it has been since pre-orders started earlier this month.

"From a demand point of view, it's hard to gauge when you don't have product in stores," said Cook on a conference call with analysts. Apple is only selling the watch online and in select third-party boutiques due to the large number of models and straps for the watch, which could become a logistics nightmare if it offered every permutation of the many varieties at already jam-packed Apple stores.

The company's App Store has also seen its biggest sales since it launched in 2008.

However, Apple saw a 23 percent decline in iPad sales, although they still managed to shift over 12 million of the classic tablets.

Apple said it expected fiscal third-quarter revenue of $46 billion to $48 billion, in line with analysts' average forecast of $47 billion.