Apple sells 16,000 iPhones per hour

Apple, the world's most valuable company, nearly doubled its profit in the last quarter based on stronger-than-expected iPhone sales, according to CNNMoney.

The company beat analyst predictions thanks to 35.1 million iPhones sold worldwide from January through March. To help put that figure into perspective, CNN's Katy Bryon spoke to Gene Munster, a senior analyst who covers Apple at Piper Jaffray. Some numbers that put the past quarter's results into perspective:

Apple sold an average of 385,000 iPhones per day the past quarter

That's 16,000 handsets sold each hour a day

An average of 5,400 Apple's iPads left the shelves per hour

As the Financial Times notes “even Tim Cook, Apple's new chief executive, appeared taken aback” by the huge quarterly growth. “It is mind-boggling that we could do this well,” he said during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

The reason? In a word – China. Sales from China – where the iPhone 4S went on sale – were $7.9 billion, or 20% of the company's total revenue. “Growth in China for iPhones was 500% year-over-year overall iPhone sales 88% year-over-year worldwide,” Munster told CNN.

And there's room for Apple to grow in China this year. The iPhone launched on China Unicom and China Telecom this past quarter, but still is only available with 25% of phone carriers in China. “China Mobile still missing – which is like AT&T and Verizon combined here in U.S.,” Munster said. “They'll get that when iPhone 5 comes out (likely) in October 2012.”

Moreover, the strong quarterly results shows strong growth in the developing world as a whole – an area where many wondered whether Apple's premium line of products could find success. “They've proven that they can sell in emerging markets,” Munster said.