The company, which has faced mounting criticism over the antenna design of its iPhone 4, said Friday it would give away cases to owners. On Tuesday, Apple said as a result it would defer until the December quarter about $175 million in revenue. 


Apple's strong results join others in the tech sector as a recovery in business sales is adding to

renewed consumer spending, which bounced back from the recession last quarter.
Shares of Apple rose 2.5% in after-hours trading. The stock closed Tuesday at $251.89 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Despite fears that the April launch of the iPad would cannibalize Macintosh computer sales, Mac desktop and laptop sales remained strong in the quarter. Apple sold 3.5 million computers, up 33% from a year ago.
Apple said it sold 3.3 million iPads since the tablet went on sale, generating revenue of $2.16 billion. The company said the average sales price for its iPad was $640, suggesting many customers opted for higher-priced models with cellular-data service.

The Mac is on fire and the iPad is on fire," said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co.
Research company iSuppli earlier raised its estimate for iPad sales in 2010 to 12.9 million from 7.1 million, saying the only limitation was production capacity, not demand. Apple said the iPad would be available in nine more markets, including Hong Kong, Ireland and Mexico on Tuesday.
While analysts were also concerned that consumers might hold off buying iPhones in the quarter until the iPhone 4 was released, Apple sold 8.4 million iPhones during the period, up 61% from a year ago.
Overall, the Cupertino, Calif., company posted a fiscal third-quarter profit of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 a share, compared with $1.83 billion, or $2.01 a share a year earlier. Apple reported gross margin of 39.1%, down from 40.9% a year ago.
IPod sales fell 8.6% in terms of units, but revenue rose 4% to $1.5 billion as consumers continued to upgrade to the more expensive iPod touch model.
Apple's forecast for the current quarter was stronger than it is typically. Apple said it expects earnings of $3.44 a share on revenue of $18 billion in the September-ended period.
—Ian Sherr contributed to this article.