Cupertino, Calif. — The public’s love affair with the iPod portable digital music player has snowballed into a near 30 percent increase in quarterly sales and a tripling of profit at Apple Computer.
Apple sold 807,000 iPods in its fiscal second quarter, a dramatic 909 percent jump from the 80,000 units moved in the year-ago period, while revenue elevated 752 percent to $264 million from $31 million year-over-year.
Overall, Apple’s quarterly revenue soared 29 percent, hitting $1.9 billion, up from $1.5 billion in the same three months a year ago.
The company posted a net profit of $46 million for the quarter, ended March 27, more than triple the $14 million in income recorded in the second quarter of last year. The quarter’s results include a charge of $7 million. Excluding the charge, Apple’s profit for the three months would have been $53 million.
In posting its third straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth, Apple’s gross margin took somewhat of a hit for the three months, sliding to 27.8 percent from 28.3 percent year-on-year.
Apple shipped 749,000 Macintosh units in the second quarter, a 5 percent rise over the 711,000 units shipped in the second quarter of last year. Total CPUs accounted for a 6 percent quarterly increase in revenue, up to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion the previous year.
Most dramatic increase came in iBooks, which enjoyed a 51 percent rise in units in the second quarter to 201,000 units from 133,000 units, and a 48 percent increase in revenue to $223 million from $151 million. Computer sales now account for about 60 percent of overall company revenue.
Revenue in the Americas climbed 29 percent in the second quarter, reaching $881 million from $684 million in the same three months a year ago. However, unit movement in the Americas rose 7 percent in the second three months, hitting 361,000 units, up from 338,000 units year-on-year. International sales accounted for 43 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
For the six months, Apple sales increased to $3.9 billion from $2.9 billion, while net income soared to $109 million from $6 million.
Looking to its fiscal third quarter, Apple expects both double-digit growth in revenue and earnings, with revenue slated at about $1.9 billion.
