On Tuesday Apple reported its third quarter financial results, and while this wasn’t a typical record-setting quarter, it was one the company still remains confident about. Apple posted a $8.8 billion profit on $35 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $7.3 billion on $28.6 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Tim Cook: “We’re thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter. We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 4 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 2 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 26 million iPhones (representing an 28 percent unit growth); 17 million iPads (representing a 84 percent unit growth); and 6.8 million iPods (representing an 10 percent unit decline).

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $7.65.

[Via Apple]