Apple posted what the company called its best non-holiday quarter in history...in the middle of a recession that was supposed to penalize the premium-brand company. Apple announced revenue of US$8.16 billion and profits of $1.21 billion ($1.33 earnings per share (EPS)). iPhone unit sales were more than double that of the year-ago quarter, while Mac sales declined 3% year-over-year.

All told, Apple sold 3.79 million iPhones, 123% more than the March quarter of 2008. The company moved 11 million iPods, 3% more than in the year-ago quarter, while Mac sales came in at 2.22 million units, representing a 3% decline.

Unit sales, revenue, and earnings are all at the high end of the bullish analysts, and Apple claimed it was the best non-holiday quarter in its history.

"We are extremely pleased to report the best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history," Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said in a statement. "Apple's financial condition remains very robust, with almost $29 billion in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet. Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2009, we expect revenue in the range of about $7.7 billion to $7.9 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $.95 to $1.00."

That guidance is in the range that Barclay's analyst Ben Reitzes expected the company to offer, guidance he characterized would be Apple's "usual conservative" range.

The company is providing a streaming webcast of the conference call for those who want to listen in.

Shares in AAPL threw off early gains to close down at $121.51 per share, a loss of $0.25 (-0.21%), on strong volume of 30.3 million shares trading hands. The stock is up in after hours trading, at $124.77 per share, up $3.26 (+2.68%).

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.