Apple Computer last night posted a 27 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit amid strong sales of iPods and record Macintosh computers shipments.
Apple sold 8.73 million iPods, up 35 per cent from a year ago, and 1.61 million Mac computers, a 30 per cent increase from the year-earlier period.
Apple said it had the best Macintosh quarter in its history and sold nearly one million notebook Macs, up 56 per cent from a year ago. The number of Macs sold topped the previous record of 1.38 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2000
Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company grew at roughly three times the overall PC market, citing a forecast from market research firm IDC that called for just under 10 per cent year-over-year growth.
Apple said net income for the quarter ended September 30th rose to $546 million, or 62 cents per share, from $430.0 million, or 50 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue climbed 32 per cent to $4.84 billion.
Shares of Apple were up 4 per cent at $77.61 in composite late trading after the company reported results. They had closed in regular trading on Nasdaq at $74.53.