Apple's quarterly profits rose to $13.6 billion (12.5 billion euros) between January and March, the company reported on Monday.

Robust sales of its popular iPhone boosted its revenues, which jumped 27 percent compared to the same period last year, topping $58 billion.

"We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever," Apple CEO Tim Cook said.

"We're seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we've experienced in previous cycles, and we're off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch," referring to the company's smartwatch first released last week across nine countries.

In a bid to appease shareholders, the tech giant also announced a decision by its board that would increase its share repurchase program by $50 billion, bringing it to $140 billion.

Its quarterly dividends would also increase by 11 percent to 52 cents per share, it said.

In March, Apple was incorporated into the Dow Jones industrial average, forcing out AT&T.

kms/gsw (AFP, dpa)