by , 5:00 PM EST, January 22nd, 2008

Apple reported its first quarter earnings report Tuesday afternoon, with US$9.6 billion in revenue, making it the best quarter in the company's history. The Mac, iPod, and iPhone maker also reported a net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs commented "We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history."

The company shipped 2.319 million Macs in the quarter, for a 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent year-over-year growth. 22.121 million iPods shipped for a five percent unit growth rate and 17 percent growth rate compared to the same quarter last year. Apple also sold 2.315 million iPhone during the quarter beating Wall Street's two million estimate.

Apple managed to show a $2.5 billion revenue increase, or 35 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

"Our strong results produced cash flow from operations of over $2.7 billion during the quarter, yielding an ending cash balance of over $18.4 billion," according to CFO Peter Oppenheimer.

Looking forward, Apple is guiding for $6.8 billion in revenue with about $0.94 EPS for its second quarter of 2008.

Apple is currently trading after hours at $141.50, down 14.14 (9.09%).