Record sales of Macintosh-branded computers have helped consumer technology giant Apple to its best third quarter on record.The group shipped almost 2.5m Macintosh computers in the quarter to June 28, a jump of 41pc on the same quarter last year.Apple also sold more than 11m of its iPod digital music players globally, up 12pc, though revenue from sales of the MP3 players climbed a more modest 7pc.

Sales of the iPhone, the MP3 player and mobile telephone hybrid, almost trebled to 717,000, although last year the device was only released at the end of the third quarter, capping sales significantly. While figures take into account sales of the group's heavily promoted MacBook Air laptop, they do not include sales of the 3G iPhone, which was launched this month.

Apple posted revenue of $7.46bn (£3.72bn) for the quarter, up $5.41bn. Profit climbed from $818m to $1.97bn. The company is expecting fourth-quarter revenue, which should be buoyed by the release of the new model iPhone, of about $7.8bn.

Apple sold about 1m of the 3G iPhones on the launch weekend compared with more than 70 days to sell 1m handsets from its predecessor, although the Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said the last quarter was "the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple's history".

"We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G and we're busy finishing several more wonderful new products."Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said Apple was "extremely pleased" with its growth, and the group had generated cash of almost $5.4bn in the first three quarters of the current financial year.

Also yesterday, Texas Instruments, which makes computer chips for everything from mobile phones to industrial equipment, posted a reduction in quarterly profit. Revenue growth in analogue chips was offset by weakness in the group's wireless chip business. Second quarter profits fell from $614m to $588m, on revenues of $3.35bn, down from $3.42bn.Shares in the Delaware-based company have fallen more than 10pc since the end of last year.