Google yesterday reported a record quarterly profit as the Internet giant proclaimed the economic downturn is coming to an end and declared its Android mobile platform is “about to explode.” In a forecast-beating set of third-quarter results, the California-based company reported revenues of US$5.94 billion for the July-September period (a 7 percent year-on-year increase) and net profit of US$1.64 billion (a huge 27 percent year-on-year increase). Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said he thought the company’s growth was a sign that a wider economic recovery was underway. “While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future,” he said in a statement.

The company didn’t break down performance details for its Android operating system, but Schmidt was keen to state that its mobile strategy is starting to pay off. “Android adoption is about to explode,” he said, adding that all the “necessary conditions” are set for growth. There are now 12 Android phones available from a variety of major vendors across 32 operators in 26 countries. During a conference call with analysts Schmidt also mentioned that mobile searches on Google were up 30 percent from the second quarter.