Apple's iPod Sales Lift Its Quarterly Sales 70%

CUPERTINO, CALIF. — iPod sales helped push up overall fiscal second-quarter sales at Apple Computer 70 percent, hitting $3.2 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in the year-ago three months.

Apple shipped 5.3 million iPod units in the second quarter, ended March 26, a 558 percent increase year-on-year, compared with 807,000 units shipped in the same quarter in 2004. Revenue in the three months for the Apple iPod jumped to over $1 billion, up from the previous year's $264 million, a 284 percent rise. Revenue in the quarter for iPods accounted for 31 percent of Apple's total three month revenue.

Apple net income for the second quarter reached $290 million, more than a six-fold increase over the $46 million recorded in the same three months a year ago. Gross margin in the quarter was 29.8 percent, up from 27.8 percent year-over-year, driven by lower component costs and a richer product mix.

Revenue in the Americas climbed 64 percent in the second quarter, rising to $1.4 billion from a year earlier $881 million. Sales at 103 Apple retail stores rose 115 percent in the period, hitting $571 million, compared with $266 million in the second quarter of 2004. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter's overall company revenue.

“We are delighted to report a record second quarter for Apple in both revenue and earnings,” said Steve Jobs, CEO. “Apple is firing on all cylinders, and we have some incredible new products in the pipeline for the coming year, starting with Mac OS X Tiger later this month.” It will retail for a suggested $129.

Apple shipped 1.1 billion Macintosh units in the second quarter, a 43 percent increase in CPU units, compared with 749 million in the same three months the previous year. The iMac unit movement climbed 115 percent to 467 million units in the second quarter, up from 217 million year-on-year. Powerbook jumped 34 percent to 211 million units from 157 million, and iBook rose 25 percent to 251 million units from 201 million. Only the Power Mac unit movement dropped in the second quarter, down 19 percent to 141 million units from a year-ago 174 million.

For the six months, Apple sales increased to $6.7 billion from a year earlier $3.9 billion, while net income for the same period climbed to $585 million from $109 million year-on-year.