Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the 30 hours following its US debut the evening of June 29, 2007, Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said in a conference call with analysts.

Apple plans to begin selling iPhones in several "major European cities" by the end of September and expand throughout the region and into Asia in 2008.

The California company is sticking to its goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of next year.

"We are focused on building a third great business for Apple," chief operating officer Timothy Cook said of iPhones joining iPods and Macintosh computers in the Apple product line.

"It won't be easy to build the third business because the competitors are large and entrenched. Progress will be measured in years, not months, but the rewards are huge."

Mr Cook said the iPhone line will be built "model-by-model" but declined to discuss plans for new versions.

IPhones are available in four or eight-gigabyte models.

The "smart phones" feature touch screen controls and combine capabilities of mobile phones, iPods, Internet browsers and cameras.

Apple said its profits in the quarter ending June 30, 2007 were 92 US cents per share as compared with 54 US cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Wall Street financial gurus had expected Apple profits to tally 72 US cents per share in the quarter.

Industry analysts believe a "halo effect" caused by the cache of iPods and the frenzy over iPhones is making Macintosh computers more popular.

Apple reported it shipped a record-high 1,764,000 Macintosh computers in the recent quarter, a 33 per cent increase from the number it shipped in the same quarter in 2006.

The California company said it also sold 9,815,000 iPods during the quarter, 21 per cent more than in the same quarter last year.

"We're thrilled to report the highest June quarter revenue and profit in Apple's history, along with the highest quarterly Mac sales ever," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said in a written release.

"IPhone is off to a great start - we hope to sell our 1 millionth iPhone by the end of its first full quarter of sales."

It took Apple nearly two years to sell a million iPods. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation