Apple announced its quarterly earnings for Q3 2013 on Wednesday, it recorded revenue of US$35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion  and an earnings per share of $7.47. Analysts expected the sales to be around $35.02 with a earnings per share $7.32.

iPhone sales quashed concerns that a robust competition is hitting demand. Apple  sold 31.2 million iPhones in the quarter, far more than  analysts expectations of  26 million. iPad sales came in at 14.6 million, which was below expectations, and represented a 14% unit decline.

“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”

“We generated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are pleased to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.