Apple on Wednesday set itself apart from most of the struggling consumer electronics sector as it reported an unexpectedly strong 9 per cent increase in revenues in the first three months of 2009, despite the depth of the recession and a lack of hot new products to draw consumers to its stores.

At the same time, the US technology company continued to offer only the broadest of responses to persistent rumours about the health of Steve Jobs, its chief executive, who has been on leave of absence since January to battle complications from an earlier bout of pancreatic cancer.