Apple has released its first quarterly financial report after the iPhone X’s release, amid observations about disappointing sales despite Apple’s sky-high expectations.

The technology giant surpassed Wall Street predictions. It generated the highest revenue from iPhone sales in its history, even though it sold almost one million fewer smartphones than the year before – making this past holiday quarter an especially notable one for Apple.

Although the company just reported that it sold 77.3m iPhones from November to September, this was down 1.3 per cent compared to the 78.3m sold in the previous year.

The increased price of the new smartphones meant profits from sales went up. The device is the most expensive iPhone Apple has created, with prices from £999.

For the company’s fiscal first quarter of 2018, Apple reported profits of $88.3bn, an increase of 13 per cent year-on-year. Net income was $20bn, with diluted earnings per share up 16 per cent.

In Apple’s quarterly earnings statement, Apple chief executive Tim Cook declared that the iPhone X was the leading seller, overtaking the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

“iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since in shipped in November,”said Cook.

Cook’s statements challenged stories of the iPhone X failing to sell and concerns that a more expensive iPhone would significantly affect Apple’s profits.