Apple Profits Rise By 36 Percent

Apple has announced that its first quarter profits rose by 36 percent over the same period last year, topping the $1 billion mark.

Apple has announced its first quarter figures, and they’re staggering good. Steve Jobs’ baby saw its profits rise by 30% over the same period in 2007,to $1.05 billion.   A lot of that would seem to be on the back of computer sales – up 51% at 2,298,000 – and international sales, which totalled 44% of the company revenue. 1.7million of the much-vaunted iPhones were shipped, but the iPod only enjoyed a 1% rise in sales to 10,644,000.  Apple CEO Steve Jobs reported:   "We’re delighted to report 43% revenue growth and the strongest March quarter revenue and earnings in Apple’s history. With over $17bn in revenue for thefirst half of our fiscal year, we have strong momentum to launch some terrific new products in the coming quarters."   However good these figures, though, Apple is already dour about nextquarter, predicting just $7.2 billion in total revenue.