iPhone sales are stable, but Apple's profits jumped 32%

Apple sold the same number of iPhones in the last quarter as the year before, but sales and profits have skyrocketed.

Apple ( AAPL ) reported Tuesday a profit of $ 11.5 billion for the three months ending in June, up 32% from the same period a year ago. Apple's business figure rose 17% to $ 53.3 billion, a new record for its third fiscal quarter.

The jump comes despite the flattening of iPhone unit sales. Apple sold 41.3 million iPhones in the three months ending in June, little change from 41 million sold in the same period last year.

The results underscore Apple's success in no longer relying on the sale of more and more iPhones to expand its business. Instead, Apple is finding new growth from iPhone models at higher prices, like the $ 999 iPhone X, as well as additional services offered for its device portfolio. "Apple is no longer a 'pony of trick' with all its future based on ever higher unit volumes," said Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, at CNNMoney via email .

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The Apple Services category, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and AppleCare, has reached $ 9.5 billion for the quarter, up more than 30% from the previous year. Meanwhile, the average selling price of an iPhone was $ 724 during the quarter, up from $ 606 a year ago.

During a conference call with analysts after the report, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone X expensive was the "best-selling iPhone" model since its launch. Last year.

Apple also gave investors reason to be optimistic about the timing and demand for the upcoming iPhone launch scheduled for the fall. Apple expects its sales for the next quarter would be between 60 and 62 billion dollars, above expectations on Wall Street.

Several analysts expect that Apple will launch three new iPhone models in the fall, although the precise timing of each is unclear. As a rule, Apple launches new iPhones in the second half of September just before the end of its fourth fiscal quarter.

Cook also gave a positive note when asked about the imminent threat that tariffs would weigh on his activities, despite the recent escalation of the US-US trade war. United and China.

"Every country can only prosper if the other does. I can not predict the future, but I'm optimistic that countries will get through that," Cook said on the # 39; call. "We hope calm heads prevail."

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Apple stock rose more than 3% after trading hours Tuesday after the earnings report. Apple is now within reach to become the first company to exceed the $ 1 trillion market value.

The report comes amidst the tracers of investors on the technology sector. The so-called FAANG stocks – Facebook ( FB ) The Amazon ( AMZN ) Apple, Netflix NFLX ) and Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ) – began the week in the red, after two members of the much-hyped group scared investors growing more slowly than expected.

CNNMoney (New York) First published July 31, 2018: 4:36 PM ET