iPod sales propel Apple's profits, revenue

iPod sales propel Apple's profits, revenue

	Published : Thu, 19 Jan 2006 14:00 By : Phil Bateman Print this Story

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Computer Inc. has almost doubled its first quarter profits compared to corresponding previous year quarter, as it sold more than14 million units of its market leader gizmo iPod.

The net income for the first quarter ended December 2005 stood at $565 million, or 65 cents a share, against $295 million, or 35 cents a share during the period ended December 2004.Revenue rose 64 per cent to $5.75 billion from $3.49 billion.

Its forecast for the second quarter that the sales will be below expectations, however, rattled investors who pulled its shares down 5 per cent in extended trading.

Apple said while it sold 14 million iPods during the quarter that comprised holiday period, it also accounted for 1.25 million units of Macintosh computers and it had for the first time quarter sales exceeding $1 billion in its retail stores, numbering 135 worldwide now. Revenue per store shot up 41 per cent during the first quarter, to $8.3 million.

Music sales now account for 59 per cent of the company's total sales. The company is estimated to be having 83 per cent of the U.S. market for downloaded music.

Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a statement that apart from selling 14 million iPods, the quarter also saw the launch of the new Macs with Intel processors, almost five to six months ahead of schedule. "We are working on more wonderful products for 2006 and I can't wait to see what our customers think of them," Jobs added.

For the second quarter, the company said it expects to have earnings per share of 42 cents on revenue of $4.3 billion. The market expectations are earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $4.83 billion.

The company's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said in spite of an extraordinary response to the new iMac system and MacBook, which were launched last week, the company will start shipping the products only in February. This will impact sales for the second quarter. He added that the company may also face a continued "pause" in Mac sales due to customer anticipation of new computers in the coming year.

The company's shares fell $2.22, or 2.6 per cent to close at $82.49 on Nasdaq. In extended trading the stock fell to $78.00.