Apple Inc. could have hardly picked a better time to borrow an unprecedented $17 billion in its first bond sale since 1996.

The world's most valuable technology company is pocketing an initial $40 million in annual interest savings compared with current yields on the six bonds it sold, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds, a benchmark for the entire fixed-income market, rose to 2.13 percent by the end of last week from 1.67 percent on April 30, the day of the offering, Bloomberg Bond Trader data show.

The iPhone maker will save $724 million compared with today's rates over the life of the bonds, Bloomberg data show. Cupertino, California-based Apple tapped the market four days before Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s billionaire chairman, Warren Buffett, said he felt "sorry" for fixed-income investors with yields so low. Not a week later, Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Bill Gross, manager of the world's biggest fixed-income fund, said the three-decade bull market in bonds probably ended on April 29.