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Strong sales of iPhones and iPods helped Apple fend off the worst of the recession to report a better than expected 15 per cent rise in second quarter profits. Apple said that it sold 3.8 million iPhones in the quarter, more than twice as many as a year ago, despite the economic downturn. The company also sold more than 11 million iPods, up 3 per cent on a year ago. Peter Oppenheimer, the group’s chief financial officer, said: “We are extremely pleased to report the best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history.” The company also confirmed that Steve Jobs, the group chief executive, who has been away on medical leave since January, would return as expected in June. Net profits for the three months to March 28 increased to $1.21 billion (£835 million), up from $1.05 billion the year before, with revenues up by nearly 9 per cent to $8.16 billion, compared with $7.96 billion the year before. The group’s shares gained more than 3 per cent in reaction. However, the downturn did lead to fewer sales of Mac computers, with sales falling 3 per cent to 2.2 million Macs. Apple updated its desktop line in March, but did not cut prices. Shaw Wu, a Kaufman Brothers analyst, said: “It was a very strong quarter. Apple came in above on both the top and bottom lines. In terms of the business units, Macs were a little light of the higher end of expectations, iPods and iPhones both above expectations.” Apple said that the downturn and an expansion of other outlets carrying Apple products such as Wal-Mart hit sales from its retail stores and revenue was down from $1.47 billion a year ago to $1.45 billion. However, the company hailed the success of its App Store, which sells applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. There were now 35,000 different apps available in the online store and the one billionth download from the store was just “hours away”, Mr Oppenheimer said. Tim Cook, chief operating officer, also took the opportunity to scotch rumours that Apple was going to be launching a netbook, to compete in practically the only sector of computers that has seen robust growth. He said Apple considered that netbooks were cramped, used “horrible software” and “junky hardware”. “This is not something that we would want to put the Mac brand on, quite frankly.” In an always cautious outlook, Apple forecast earnings for the current quarter of 95 cents to $1 a share on revenue of $7.7 billion to $7.9 billion, slightly below expectations. Meanwhile, eBay’s earnings and revenue fell for the second consecutive quarter as fewer people used its online auction sites. Profits fell to $357.1 million, from $459.7 million, although they did beat Wall Street expectations. Its core marketplaces business revenue fell 19 per cent as sellers deserted its auctions for fixed-price rivals such as Amazon, while online payments revenue, including PayPal, climbed 8 per cent. Skype, the internet telephone service that it said last week it would spin off, contributed $153.2 million in revenue for the quarter, representing 21 per cent year-on-year growth.