Apple Computer have just released their fourth quarter earnings — and they’ve more than doubled. Q4 2003 was good with the company bringing in a profit of US$44 million (€35.59 million), but Q4 2004 is a different story Apple reporting a profit of US$106 million (€85.74 million) – a leap of 240%. It’s a sign of how the iPod has changed Apple that music products and services now account for 27% of the company’s revenue.

Steve Jobs announced why the company had done so well: “We are thrilled to report our highest fourth quarter revenue in nine years. We shipped over 2 million iPods, our Retail store revenue grew 95% year-over-year, and the new iMac G5 has received phenomenal reviews and is off to a great start.”

The iPod certainly is still popular – last quarter Apple sold “only” 860,000, and Q4 2003 sales were 336,000. A annual sales hike of 500% this far after a product’s launch is remarkable and shows that Apple’s policy of regular revisions is working well. Indeed, the company is currently selling more than two iPods for every computer they ship.

Apple’s Q4 results

On this day, years gone by ...

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• Two companies signup for Microsoft IPTV trial - 2003