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.