REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc forecast a strong holiday quarter after a better-than-expected 16 percent jump in iPhone sales, and the strongest growth in Mac computer shipments in years helped the company surpass Wall Street's targets.

The company on Monday projected stronger-than-expected revenue of 63.5 billion USD to 66.5 billion USD in the December quarter, when new iPads and iPhones vie with rival devices from Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc for consumers' holiday outlays.

Shares of Apple rose 1.3 percent to about 101.10 USD in after-hours trade.

But sales of the iPad, which helped launch the mainstream tablet market in 2010, slid for the third straight quarter. A gradual decline in tablet demand worldwide has worried investors already concerned with Apple's slowing growth, who are awaiting a new device that can energize its expansion.

Sales of Apple's tablet slid more than 7 percent from the previous quarter to 12.3 million units, and were down 13 percent from the year-ago period.

Apple's fortunes, however, still largely hinge on the iPhone, which accounts for half its business, and the company's ability to again re-define markets with new technology gadgets. The Apple Watch, the company's entry in the nascent wearables category, will not hit store shelves till 2015.

Orders for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus began in September, helping Apple chalk up a 12.2 percent jump in revenue last quarter to 42.12 billion USD. That exceeded the roughly 39.9 billion USD that Wall Street analysts had predicted, on average.

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