SAN FRANCISCO — While earnings have faltered at other electronics companies, unexpectedly strong sales of Macintosh computers and a surge in iPhone purchases pushed Apple’s profit up 15 percent in the third quarter, the company said Tuesday.

“We’re making our most innovative products ever and our customers are responding,” Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive, said in a statement.

Apple recorded its best nonholiday quarter ever when other electronics makers were hurting because of a downturn in consumer spending. According to various estimates, PC shipments for the industry fell 3 to 5 percent over the last three months. But Apple said it sold 2.6 million Macs in the quarter, up about 18 percent from the 2.2 million it sold in the previous quarter, which ended March 28.

Apple said Mac sales were helped in June by updates to its line of MacBook Pro laptops, which got new features like longer battery life and a price reduction of $300, or 25 percent, from the previously least expensive Pro model. Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, said the company saw an “acceleration of sales” after the introduction, which he said had led to some inventory shortages.

About half of Mac buyers in Apple’s own retail stores had never owned a Mac before, said Mr. Cook.

Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers, said that Macintosh computers were “resonating with increasing number of customers, as it is arguably the best platform for what people do today, which includes Web surfing and creating and managing content.” Read more…

Some of resources: Internet Marketing Services, CAD Services