EMC's first-quarter net income rose to $312.6m or 15 cents per share from $272.5m last year in a record Q1 for the data storage company.

Revenue rose to $2.98bn from $2.55bn last year, exceeding analysts' average predictions of $2.94bn.

Growth in Asia-Pacific and Japan operations and an increased demand for EMC's software acquisitions was cited for the increase.

According to EMC, VMware virtualization and RSA security IP were the leading factors in the company's software charge.

VMware was bought by EMC in 2004 for $635m cash. The company makes virtualization software that enables users to run multiple operating systems on the same computer. In February, EMC offered a VMware IPO for shareholders concerned about VMware sales skyrocketing while EMC share had remained flat. VMWare remains the company's fastest growing units.

The acquisition giant gobbled RSA security in 2006 for $2.1bn. Recently, EMC CEO Joe Tucci admitted to overspending by $500m for the buy but promised it would pay off in the future.

EMC has bought 20 companies since 2003 - expanding the company from a hardware supplier to the more lucrative software market. Software license and maintenance revenue now accounts for 40 per cent of EMC's overall revenue this quarter, up six per cent from last year. The percentage is getting closer to EMC's hardware sales, currently 44 per cent of EMC revenue. ®