Mac sales push up Apple profits

Mac computer sales rose by 51%

Profits at US technology giant Apple have jumped 36% as consumers snap up its MacBook computers and iPods.

The firm made a net profit of $1.05bn (�0.53bn) in the quarter ended 29 March, compared with $770m in the same period a year earlier.

Apple shipped 2,289,000 Mac computers during the quarter, a rise of 51% from the year before.

International sales made up 44% of Apple's revenue, which totalled $7.51bn in the quarter.

"We're delighted to report 43% revenue growth and the strongest March quarter revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO.

"With over $17bn in revenue for the first half of our fiscal year, we have strong momentum to launch some terrific new products in the coming quarters."

The company sold 10,644,000 iPods during the quarter, a 1% rise, which dispelled some fears that the market for the media players was saturated.

Apple said it shipped 1.7 million iPhones.

Some analysts had raised questions about the iPhone's success after O2 and Carphone Warehouse reduced the UK retail price of the standard handset by �100 to �169 in an effort to attract new customers.

The figures surpassed analysts expectations but the company was less optimistic on the outlook for the rest of 2008.

Apple said it expected revenue to total $7.2bn in the next quarter, less than some Wall Street analysts were expecting pushing its shares down 2.8% in after hours trading.

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