Apple Q4 Profits Boosted by iPhone and Mac Sales

Apple Inc. on Monday reported strong earnings for its fourth quarter, boosted by record Macintosh computer sales and the shipment of 1.12 million iPhones.

The company beat analyst estimates with net income of US$904 million, or $1.01 per share, compared with $542 million, or $0.62 per share, in net income reported in last year's fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial estimated a consensus of $760.45 million in net income and earnings of $0.84 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 29.

The company reported $6.22 billion in revenue, up from $4.84 billion in the fourth quarter last year. The revenue consensus from analysts polled by Thomson was for $6.07 billion.

The company shipped 2.16 million Macs during the quarter, a 34 percent growth over the year-ago period, Apple said in a news release.

Apple had a busy quarter with multiple product announcements.

Last month, it unveiled the iPod Touch, a portable multimedia player with a touchscreen user interface and Wi-Fi capabilities. It also announced availability of the iPhone in Europe, with U.K. network operator O2 (UK) Ltd. slated to start shipping the device in November.

On the software front, Apple announced iWork '08, its office applications suite, in August. Mac OS X Leopard, Apple's latest operating system, will begin shipping later this week.