Apple has announced more strong financial results, with the firm selling more than 60 million iPhones in the first three months of the year.

The company's continued surge in China meant 61 million Apple smartphones were sold, contributing to a revenue of US$58bn, and net profit of $13.6bn.

The firm said the results were a record for a second quarter for the company from Cupertino in California. It also sold four million Macs - its desktop and laptop computer line.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said: "We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever.

"We're seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we've experienced in previous cycles, and we're off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch."

The Apple Watch, the firm's first wearable device, went on sale last week so is not included in the results. Analysts believe Apple is likely to have already sold upwards of two million of the smartwatches.

These latest results were again above analyst predictions, and follow a record-breaking first fiscal quarter of 2015, when Apple posted revenue of $74bn, and profit of $18bn - the most posted by any company in a single quarter ever.

Yesterday's results also showed iPad sales of 12 million - down 23% on the same quarter last year. The company said that international sales - outside of the US - accounted for 69% of revenue in the quarter.

The iPhone 6 and larger iPhone 6 Plus that were launched in September continue to be extremely popular in the Asian market. Compared to the same quarter last year, iPhone sales are up 40%.

Apple's rival Google posted its quarterly figures last week, announcing revenue of $17.3bn.

Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri said: "The tremendous customer demand for our products and services in the March quarter drove revenue growth of 27% and EPS growth of 40%.

"Cash flow from operations was also outstanding at $19.1bn."