Apple just announced its Q4 2011 numbers, and as usual the company has had a record quarter: $6.62b in profit on $28.27b in revenue, with 11.1m iPads and 17m iPhones sold. That's a 21 percent increase in iPhone sales and a 166 percent increase in iPad sales from a year ago—a new quarterly sales record for the tablet. Apple also sold a record number of Macs, with sales up 26 percent to 4.89m, while the iPod line continues to decline with sales down 27 percent to 6.67m units. Apple's earnings call is set for 5PM ET—hit the link below for the live blog, and check back later for clips and a breakdown.

Record earnings or not, they're being categorized as a "rare miss" by analysts whose revenue estimates averaged $29.69 billion, even though Apple's own (notoriously low) guidance was $25 billion headed into the quarter. Apple is down 6 percent in after hours trading.

Source: Apple