Apple Sees Modest Q2 Profit; Plans 2nd Cupertino Campus

On Wednesday, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Computer announced modest second-quarter earnings, including profits of 47 cents per share, or roughly $410 million, on revenue of $4.36 billion, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

According to Thomson First Call, the average analyst forecast for earnings was roughly 43 cents per share on revenue of $4.5 billion, the Mercury News reports. For the same period in 2005, Apple’s reported profit was 34 cents per share, or $290 million, on $3.2 billion in revenue, according to the Mercury News.

The announcement came on the heels of remarks made on Tuesday evening by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who spoke at a Cupertino City Council meeting regarding the company’s plans to open a second campus within the city, according to the Mercury News. That campus would be built on 50 acres of land, and it could house an additional 3,500 Apple staffers, the Mercury News reports.

Apple sold 8.5 million iPod music and video players during the quarter that ended April 1, down nearly 5.5 million from the 14 million units it sold in the previous quarter, which included the holiday season, according to the Mercury News.

“We’ve generated over $10 billion in revenue and almost $1 billion in earnings in the first half of fiscal year 2006,” Jobs said in a statement, according to the Mercury News. “Our transition to Intel processors is going very well, and our music business just experienced another quarter of outstanding growth.”

According to research firm NPD Group, Apple laid claim in March to an additional chunk of the U.S. digital music player market, jumping to 77.6 percent market share from the 76.9 percent reported in February, the Mercury News reports.

In January, Apple launched its new Macs that run on Intel Core Duo processors, and earlier this month it offered up software that enables users of its new Intel computers to run Microsoft’s Windows operating system, according to the Mercury News.

For related news coverage, read Burst.com Sues Apple in IPod Infringement Suit and Apple v. Apple Ruling Unlikely Before Easter.

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