Apple Posts $61 million Q3 Profit, Confirms G5 iMacs -- Despite problems meeting demand for its new iPod mini and being forced to delay new iMacs until September, Apple Computer announced a strong $61 million profit for its third fiscal quarter of 2004, on revenue of $2.014 billion. An after-tax restructuring charge took $6 million off the top; without it, the company's quarterly profit would have been $67 million. Apple's gross margin for the quarter was 27.8 percent, and international sales represented 39 percent of the quarter's revenue. During the quarter, Apple shipped 876,000 Macs along with 860,000 iPods; the iPod's sales growth is 183 percent higher than the same quarter of 2003, and over six percent higher than Apple's second quarter.

<http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/07728>
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jul/ 14results.html>

Of special note to potential computer buyers in the months ahead, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer confirmed during Apple's financial results conference call that new iMacs - now due in September - will be based around the PowerPC G5 processor, and that delays were due to the limited availability of the G5 itself, manufactured by IBM in Fishkill, New York. [GD]

<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq304 />