Powered by strong sales of its new iPhone 5S, Apple posted fourth-quarter revenue of $37.5 billion on Monday, up 4 per cent from $36 billion a year ago. But earnings fell 8.5 per cent to $7.5 billion.

The company said it sold 33.8 million iPhones, a record for the September quarter, compared to 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Apple launched its new flagship model, the iPhone 5S in the quarter, and together with a lower cost model, the 5C, sold a record 9 million units over the launch weekend.

Apple also sold 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 14 million in the year-ago quarter. Mac sales dropped to 4.6 million units, compared to 4.9 million in the year-ago quarter-a fall-off which some analysts viewed as the main cause of the profit slip.

“We’re pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth-quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Apple is set to release two new iPads in November and projected revenue for the current quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season, of $55 billion to $58 billion, compared with average analyst expectations of $55.7 billion.

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