By Stephen Nellis
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 3 (Reuters) Apple Inc on Thursday reported better-than-expected earnings and offered a rosy forecast for the holiday shopping season, allaying investor concerns about production delays on the new iPhone X and demonstrating remarkable strength across its growing line of products and services.
The stellar earnings report came just as the iPhone X went on sale Friday morning in Australia. Long lines were forming at Apple stores around the world, recalling the consumer frenzy that greeted early versions of the iPhone, but had faded with more recent launches.