<div><p>Strong iPhone sales helped Apple post a 50-percent increase in quarterly net profit on Monday of 3.38 billion dollars.</p><p>Apple said revenue in the first quarter rose to 15.68 billion dollars from 11.88 billion dollars in the corresponding quarter a year ago.</p><p>Apple said it sold 3.36 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, 33 percent more than a year ago, and 8.7 million iPhones, up 100 percent from a year ago.</p><p>Apple said iPod sales declined eight percent to 21 million units.</p><p>Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said new products being released by the company this year were "very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about."</p><p>Apple is hosting an event here on Wednesday to unveil what is widely expected to be a new tablet computer.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67774775&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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