Apple confirmed rumours its next iPhone would be delayed, as it revealed a surge in sales across all of its hardware segments drove double-digit jumps in revenue and profit in its fiscal Q3 (the period from 29 March to 27 June).

On an earnings call, CFO Luca Maestri staid the company expects its forthcoming iPhones to become available “a few weeks later” than the usual late September timeframe, without explaining why.

It revealed the delay alongside hikes in hardware revenue across the board, including a return to growth for iPhone sales, despite global store closures related to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Total revenue of $59.7 billion was up 11 per cent on Apple’s fiscal Q3 2019, with profit 12 per cent higher at $11.3 billion.

CEO Tim Cook (pictured) noted a shift to remote work among consumers helped drive strong sales of iPad, with revenue up 31 per cent to $6.6 billion. Mac sales also benefitted, up 21.6 per cent to $7.1 billion.

Maestri said the iPad figure was the “highest June quarter revenue in eight years”.

Revenue from iPhone grew 1.7 per cent to $26.4 billion; Wearables, Home and Accessories increased 16.7 per cent to $6.5 billion; and Services was up 14.8 per cent to $13.2 billion.

But executives appeared to concede the iPhone delay would hinder sales in the current quarter, with Maestri stating “we expect all the non-iPhone product categories to have strong year-over-year performance”.