Apple Computer's quarterly profit triples

Apple Computer said Wednesday that its net profit for the quarter ending June 26 reached 61 million US dollars, gaining 0.16 dollar per diluted share, more than tripling what it earned in the same quarter a year ago.

The computer maker also reported that its fiscal 2004 third quarter revenue increased 30 percent year-on-year to 2.01 billion dollars. International sales accounted for 39 percent of the quarter's revenue.

During the quarter, Apple shipped 876,000 Macintosh computers and 860,000 iPod portable players, representing a 14 percent increase in CPU units and a 183 percent increase in iPods, respectively over the year-ago quarter.

"It was an outstanding quarter -- our highest third quarter revenue in eight years," said Steve Jobs, Apple's Chief Executive Officer. "Our Mac-based revenue grew a healthy 19 percent, and our music-based revenue grew an incredible 162 percent."

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's Chief Financial Officer, said the company expects revenue of about 2.1 billion dollars and earnings of 0.16 to 0.17 dollar per diluted share for the next quarter.