At a time consumers are reining in spending on most things, they are still willing to open their wallets to Apple. The company Wednesday reported a 15 percent jump in quarterly profit, beating out subdued Wall Street predictions.

Apple sold 3.79 million iPhones, more than twice as many as it did during the same period a year ago. It also sold more iPods, though sales of Macintosh computers slipped.

The company posted sales of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.21 billion, or $1.33 a share, for the second quarter ended March 28. That compared with revenue of $7.51 billion and a profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 a share, for the same period a year ago. The gross margin was 36.4 percent, up from 32.9 percent, which

the company attributed to lower costs for component parts, lower freight and warranty expenses, and sales of high-margin products, such as software.

"You've got to look at the quarter as a pleasant surprise," said Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf. "In a terrible environment from an economic perspective, it was a very strong quarter."

Investors were braced for an underwhelming March quarter as they anticipated slowing Macintosh computer and iPod sales amid the unrelenting global recession. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast the Cupertino company to report earnings of $1.09 a share on $7.96 billion in revenue.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer called the quarter the company's "best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history."

For the current quarter, Oppenheimer said the company expects revenue of about $7.7 billion to $7.9 billion and earnings per share of 95 cents to $1.

Sales of Apple's desktops and notebook computers were down 3 percent, though Oppenheimer was quick to note that compared favorably with the 7 percent drop in global PC sales for the industry as a whole, according to research group IDC.

Sales of iPods, half of which were the iPod Touch, inched up 3 percent with more than 11 million units out the door. Earlier in the day, AT&T reported that it got a boost from being Apple's exclusive iPhone partner in the United States. The telecommunications company said it activated 1.6 million iPhones during the March quarter, 40 percent of which represented new customers to its network.

AT&T reportedly is negotiating with Apple to extend its exclusive iPhone partnership beyond 2010. Apple Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook indicated that Apple has no intention of ending its relationship with the telecom. "We are happy with the relationship we have with them and don't plan to change it," he said.

Apple executives provided no additional information on the well-being of CEO Steve Jobs, who stepped away from day-to-day operations in January to get treated for what he called a hormone imbalance. When an analyst asked about the condition of Jobs, Oppenheimer said only, "We look forward to Steve returning to Apple at the end of June."

Shares of Apple spiked 3 percent, or $3.59, to $125.10 in after-hours trading.