Apple iPod Unit Movement Soars 61%

Cupertino, Calif. — Unit shipments of Apple Computer iPods jumped 61 percent in the company's fiscal second quarter, climbing to 8.5 million, compared with 5.3 million a year-ago. This pushed second-quarter iPod revenue 69 percent year-on-year, reaching $1.7 billion for the three months, up from $1 billion in the same time frame in 2005.

Riding the back of its iPod business, Apple recorded a 47 percent growth in revenue in the Americas in the second quarter, ended April 1, coming in at $2.1 billion, up from a year-earlier $1.4 billion. Unit shipments in the Americas increased 4 percent in the second quarter, hitting 494,000, compared with 477,000 in the same three months the prior year.

When the second-quarter iPod business is compared with the holiday-boosted first quarter, iPod unit movement dropped 39 percent, down from the 14 million iPods shipped in the first three months, while dollar sales decreased 41 percent, down from $2.9 billion in the holiday quarter.

Apple registered a 7 percent revenue increase and 8 percent unit rise in its portable computer business during the second quarter. Sales reached $739 million, compared with a year-on-year $691 million, while unit shipments rose to 498,000 from 462,000.

Desktop revenue moved up 4 percent in the second quarter, reaching $833 million, compared with $803 million in the same three months in 2005. Desktop unit movement was flat at a 1 percent increase for the second quarter, coming in at 614,000, up from last year's 608,000.

The company shipped 1.1 million Macintosh computers in the second quarter, a 4 percent jump in unit shipments. Total CPU revenue for the three months rose 5 percent, to $1.6 billion.

Consolidated second-quarter Apple sales jumped 34 percent to $4.4 billion, up from $3.2 billion in the same three months in 2005.

Net income jumped 41 percent in the second quarter, reaching $410 million, up from a year-over-year $290 million. Gross margin was 29.8 percent, the same as last year, said Apple.