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Apple Earnings Strong On International IPod Sales

One way for Apple to get investors' minds off of Steve Jobs is to deliver a banner quarter, which is precisely what the consumer electronics giant did on Wednesday. Thanks to much stronger than expected iPod sales, Apple delivered fourth quarter sales that rose 6% to $10.17 billion, while profit increased to $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.39. As BusinessWeek says, "Headlines like that could make it easy to forget temporarily that the U.S. is in the throes of a recession and consumers and companies are reining in spending on consumer electronics."

IPod sales were actually down in the U.S., but overseas demand more than made up for the domestic drop, as Apple moved 22.7 million units in the quarter, beating analysts' expectations of 18.6 million. IPhone sales weren't great, however: Apple sold 4.36 million units versus a consensus estimate of 5 million. On the conference call, stand-in CEO Tim Cook admitted that the iPhone's service pricing, at $80-$100 per month, was too expensive for many consumers, especially in a recession.

For the year, Apple sold 13.7 million iPhones, beating the company's conservative goal of 10 million units for the year. Apple expects to have the smartphone selling in more than 70 countries by the end of the first quarter.

Read the whole story at BusinessWeek »

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