Apple Computer Inc said third-quarter profit fell 48 percent as consumers, businesses and schools spent less on new Macintosh computers. The shares fell as much as 8.3 percent in Japan.
Net income in the period ended June 29 fell to US$32 million, or 9 cents a share, from US$61 million, or US$0.17, a year earlier, the maker of iMac personal computers said. Sales fell 3.1 percent to US$1.43 billion from US$1.48 billion.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has been counting on new machines such as the flat-panel iMac and the eMac, a computer originally sold only to schools, to boost sales of personal computers, which last year dropped for the first time since 1985.
The new products weren't enough to keep sales aloft last quarter as demand faltered in the US, Europe and Japan.
"There's no growth for the moment," said Pedro Tai, who helps manage about US$80 million at ABN Amro Asset Management Taiwan. "Why should I buy a new PC, when my current one works fine?"
The company expects fourth-quarter sales to be little changed from the previous three months, with a "slight profit" excluding one-time costs. Apple was expected to have a fourth-quarter profit of US$0.14 a share, according to the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call, on sales of US$1.5 billion.
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