Apple posts record iPhone and iPad sales, but is still outpaced by Samsung

51m iPhones and 26m iPads were sold by Apple in Q4 2013.

Both numbers are record-breaking for the firm, which in the same period a year before sold 47.8m iPhones and 22.9m iPads.

The sales led to revenue of $57.6bn and net profit of $13.1bn – which was flat –for the quarter.

CEO Tim Cook didn’t reveal any breakdown of the sales figures though did concede that demand for the iPhone 5C was different than anticipated”, with the general consensus being that the not-so-low-priced ‘budget’ model has underperformed.

Samsung, however, sold 86m smartphones in the same period with Reuters reporting that the latest Strategy Analytics numbers show that Samsung claimed a 29.6 per cent share of the global Q4 smartphone market.

Apple claimed 17.6 per cent, down from 22 per cent a year before.

Overall in 2013 global smartphone shipments grew 41 per cent to reach a record-breaking 990m units. For the year as a whole Samsung claimed 32.2 per cent of the market and Apple 15.5 per cent.

Apple’s numbers for the next quarter will for the first time include sales resulting from its deal with China Mobile which saw the iPhone launch in the region earlier this month.