Apple sold 17 million iPads in the third quarter of 2012, an 84 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Nevertheless, Bloomberg noted that profit was $9.32 a sharem, below Wall Street estimates: “Analysts had predicted profit of $10.37 a share on revenue of $37.2 billion, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.”

At the same time, the company sold 26 million iPhones, those sales increasing 28 percent. Apple’s revenues were $35 billion for the quarter, with a tidy quarterly net profit of $8.8 billion.

Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer had this comment in the release: “We’re continuing to invest in the growth of our business and are pleased to be declaring a dividend of $2.65 per share today … Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $7.65.”