Apple Earnings Skyrocket ... Yet Again

iPod Still Driving Sales

For those who think that APPLE's iPOD-fueled dominance has finally jumped the shark ... well, maybe next year. AMAZON may have the hot new online music store (see story above), nevertheless continued strong demand for the iPOD and buzz surrounding the iPHONE, not to mention its sales, have led to record earnings last quarter, causing its stock to rise 7% in after-hours trading. APPLE's revenue rose 29% to $6.22 billion, while net income was up 67% to $904 million.

iPOD fatigue? Try iPOD addiction: Shipments of the portable music and video players surged 17% to 10.2 million units for the quarter. For the fiscal year, APPLE claimed shipments of 52 million iPODS, up from 39 million a year ago. Despite well-publicized bugs and consumer complaints, APPLE still sold 1.1 million iPHONES during the quarter ended SEPT. 29th -- its first full quarter of availability. Total sales for the fiscal year were 1.4 million units. With a lower iPHONE price and the holidays approaching, it should come as no surprise  that APPLE is expecting that holiday sales to boost revenue in the current quarter to $9.2 billion -- approximately a 50% increase over the last record-setting quarter.

The data indicates that the iPOD/iPHONE combo has also helped APPLE boss STEVE JOBS convert a growing number of PC users into Mac computer buyers, reports THE NEW YORK POST. APPLE yesterday reported that Mac shipments jumped 34% to a record 2.2 million units for the quarter ended SEPT. 29th. The company sold seven million Macs over the course of its full fiscal year, up from 5.3 million the year before.

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