Apple Doubles First Quarter Sales, Sets $46 Billion Technology Record

Despite the sad news of the company's founder and CEO Steve Jobs' death, Apple managed to have a stellar quarter, with sales of their beloved iPhone doubling the previous year's numbers for the same period, blowing away Wall Street's expectations.

Apple sold approximately 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads in its first quarter, which ended Dec. 31. The company's first-quarter profit more than doubled to $13.1 billion, up from $6 billion a year ago. Sales rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion from $26.7 billion for the same period in 2010.

"We would attribute it to just a breath-taking customer reception of the iPhone 4S," CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday.

The iPhone 4S, with its new personal assistant application Siri, has proven to be a hit with consumers, who again flocked to Apple stores in droves when the phone was rolled out in October.

Apple didn't do too shabby on the personal computer end if its business either, with 5.2 million Macintosh computers sold in the quarter compared with 4.1 million in 2010.

The company looks forward to a rosy second quarter too, with $32.5 billion in revenue projected. The company's shares leapt eight percent in trading Tuesday to $453.16.

Apple had a reported $127.8 billion in sales during the 2011 calendar year.