5 Takeaways From Apple's Record 3Q Earnings

On top of that, Apple also turned a few heads with an even-stronger-than predicted forecast for its fourth quarter, and didn't seem stymied in the least -- although plenty guarded -- by so-called Antennagate, the very public dustup over perceived design flaws in the iPhone 4.

Here are five key takeaways from Apple in the wake of its stellar earnings report:

1. The iPad's Good -- Real Good: Apple's iPad debuted April 3, which meant that the third quarter results were the first to take iPad sales into account. How strong were they? Apple reported 3.27 million units sold in the quarter, confirming that the device has been a runaway success -- a "jaw-dropper," as Apple COO Tim Cook put it on the earnings call -- and cementing a dominant position for Apple in the tablet market.

2. Apple Making Enterprise Inroads?: On the earnings call Tuesday, Cook made no bones about the fact that Apple wants the iPad and iPhone in the enterprise -- and is seeing it happen. According to Cook, more than 80 percent of the Fortune 100 are looking at the iPhone as a go-to device. Plenty are also kicking the tires on iPad, Cook said, saying that "we already have 50 percent of the Fortune 500 that are deploying or testing the iPad."

3. Macs Are Alive And Well, iPods Flagging: With all the hype around iPhone and iPad, some observers wondered whether the shine was starting to come off sales of Apple's Mac computers and whether Macs would be cannibalized by iPad sales. Not the case, Apple said, reporting sales of 3.47 million Macs during the quarter, a 33 percent year-over-year increase. The sales picture for Apple's long running iPod players was less rosy; unit sales of iPods were 9.41 million, a decline of 8 percent, year over year.

4. You Done With Antennagate? Apple Is.: On the earnings call, Apple COO Cook declined to say whether Antennagate is affecting sales of iPhone 4. Overall, Apple sold 8.4 million iPhones during the quarter. The iPhone 4 arrived June 24, and Apple said July 16 it had sold 3 million of those.

"Let me be very clear on this. We're selling every unit we can make," Cook said on the call.

5. Let The Good Times Roll, Again: Apple made one of its biggest earnings call splashes by looking into its crystal ball: it projected $18 billion in sales for the third quarter. That exceeded, by a solid billion, Wall Street's prediction of $17 billion, and is surprising for Apple given Apple's routinely conservative projections.

"Apple's sending a strong signal it sees things differently," said Yair Reiner, an Oppenheimer & Co. analyst, in an interview with Reuters.