It will be difficult for anyone to focus on Apple’s first-quarter financial results released today, given that the news that CEO Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) for health reasons is only a week old, but perhaps this will provide some distraction: the company posted record revenue of $10.17 billion and record net profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated that Apple would earn $1.29 a share on $10.16 billion in sales for its first quarter. These results compare to revenue of $9.6 billion and profits of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 a share in the year-ago period. Jobs: “Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history—surpassing $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time ever.”

SEE ALSO: Apple Call: First, How’s Steve? Now, Let’s Talk About Strong iPod-iTunes Sales

Release | Transcript (via Seeking Alpha)

—Sector breakdown: Apple sold 2,524,000 Macs during the quarter, representing 9 percent growth over the year-ago quarter. The company sold a record 22.7 million iPods during the quarter, representing three percent growth, and Apple sold 4,363,000 iPhones, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

—iPhone performance: In the fourth quarter, the iPhone business totaled $4.6 billion in revenues, signaling a huge spike. Unit sales of iPhone 3G continued to be significant in the quarter ended December 27, 2008, with 4.4 million iPhones sold, that compares to the fourth-quarter period in which the company sold 6.9 million iPhones. Apple reports revenues from iPhone and Apple TV over their economic lives, but when it’s adjusted and you eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the company said non-GAAP revenues from these two products—a majority of which came from iPhones—was $11.8 billion in revenue and $2.3 billion in net income. The company reported these non-GAAP numbers for the first time last quarter.

—Outlook: Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, said in a release that, “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2009, we expect revenue in the range of about $7.6 billion to $8 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $.90 to $1.00.”

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