Apple sold 74.4 million iPhones during the fourth quarter. File photo by David Silpa/UPI. | License Photo

CUPERTINO, Calif., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Apple had quite an impressive fourth quarter, selling 74.4 million iPhones and blowing past analyst predictions.

The company was expected to sell between 66 million and 69 million iPhones over the holiday quarter, but ended up doing much better, driving company profits to $18 billion.


iPhone sales in those three months surpassed the combined revenue for Microsoft and Google in the same quarter, the Washington Post reported.

"They closed the feature gap -- namely the lack of a large screen (with iPhone 6 Plus) -- and, as a result. they blew the doors off for revenue and earnings," Van Baker, mobile analyst at Gartner, told USA Today.

The news boosted Apple's share prices in after-hours trading, up 5 percent to $114.74.

Apple released its newest smartphones, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September.

The revenue report released Tuesday comes on the same day Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the company's newest product, the Apple Watch, will be released in April, one month later than previously rumored.