In a historic event Apple has reported quarterly profits of $18bn (€15.87bn) for their first quarter- the largest profit ever made by a public company, beating out ExxonMobile who held the previous record of $15.9bn (€14.03bn). Their profit was higher than the GDPs of Jamaica, Malta and the Bahamas.

Apple’s iPhone was the biggest driver of this increase in profits, with global sales rising to 74.5 million units shipped during their last fiscal quarter in the three months leading up to December 27, up 57% from that same quarter of the previous year. The news surpasses even the most bullish of analysts’ expectations, and led to a 5% rise in Apple’s shares after the announcement. The Economist quotes that “Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, says the company sold the equivalent of 34,000 iPhones an hour, 24 hours a day, in its latest quarter…” The new IPhones represented 68.6% of Apple’s total profit in 2014. Sales of Apple’s Macbooks were up 9% while sales of the iPad tablets fell by 18% due to a resurgence in laptop sales, the rise of cheaper rival products and Apple’s own products such as the iPhone 6 Plus, which is almost the same size as an iPad Mini.

The emerging markets of Brazil and China have been the greatest consumers of iPhone 6 in all its versions; however, the US is still the biggest consumer of Apple products, with 40% of the profit from October to December. In the last year Apple became the biggest smartphone company in China (by volume), and with $16bn in sales almost equalled the $17bn in sales it had in Europe the same year.

Tim Cook CEO of Apple says that he is satisfied with the overall results and expects even higher profits in 2015 with the introduction of the iWatch, which goes on sale in April this year.

By Alex Reid, Marta Parra Arribas and Mohamed Ali