Apple said its revenue rose by 35 percent to $9.6 billion in its year-ending business quarter, driven by record Macintosh, iPod and iPhone sales as well as strong demand for the company’s latest software release. Net profit rose to $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per share, versus $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006.

During the seasonally strong quarter, Apple saw its Macintosh computer shipments rise by 44 percent to 2.3 million units. The company additionally said it sold 22.1 million iPods and 2.3 million iPhones during the period.

It was “our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said CEO Steve Jobs. Looking ahead, Jobs additionally noted that Apple has “an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals.”

Across-the-Board Growth

Macintosh products and services generated 47 percent of the company’s total revenue in its final quarter. “Sales of

the new iMac we announced in August continued to be very robust, helping drive 53 percent year-over-year growth in desktop systems,” Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said. “Sales of portables were additionally strong, increasing 38 percent year-over-year.”

Meanwhile, quarterly revenue from Apple’s Leopard OS soared to $170 million. By comparison, Apple’s previous Tiger OS release generated $100 million in sales during the equivalent period following the product’s introduction. “We believe that 19 percent of the Mac OS 10 installed base is already using Leopard,” Oppenheimer told financial analysts during a conference shout.

Apple has enjoyed more than 30 percent growth by the last five quarters, even as the entire market grew by a one digit, observed Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa. Growth in shipments has been driven by product refreshment, with a notable assist from Apple’s retail expansion at Best Buy, Kitagawa said.

Even as Apple has continued to…

Orginal post by Top Tech News