Electronics giant Apple today reported earnings for its latest quarter, announcing that it sold a record 74.5 million iPhones during the period, helping the company hit a new all-time high for quarterly profit.

　　Net revenue for Apple during the period ended December 27 was $74.6 billion, up from $57.6 billion last year. Meanwhile, Apple posted a record quarterly profit of $18 billion, up significantly from the net profit of $13.1 billion achieved this quarter last year.

　　Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, up from 51 million last year. Mac sales rose from 4.8 million units last year to 5.5 million this year. iPad sales, however, were down year-over-year. Sales of the Apple tablets totaled 21.4 million, down from 26 million units sold this quarter last year.

　　This is the second straight quarter where iPad sales dropped.

　　"What you do see is that people hold onto their iPad longer than they do a phone," Apple CEO Tim Cook said back in October. "Because we've only been in this business for four years, we don't know what the upgrade cycle will be for people."