Apple Exceeds Expectations, Mac Sales Soar

Little was surprising about Apple's quarterly numbers surrounding the iPhone, as sales met expectations and forecasts. However, Mac sales surged to record levels and the company posted far better revenue numbers than expected.

The company, known to be conservative in its forecasts, had forecasted $5.7 billion in revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter. On Monday, Apple ended up posting $6.22 billion in revenue, on profits of $904 million, or about $1.01 per share.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected the company to post profits of $6.02 billion or 84 cents per share.

iPhone sales of 1.12 million were in line with earlier estimates, bringing total sales to 1.39 million.

Details of how many of those phones were actually activated by AT&T should become available in the coming days as the carrier releases its own quarterly numbers. Those details are expected on Tuesday.

The bigger story, however, seems to be Apple's continuing strength in its Macintosh computer business. Sales for the quarter were 2,164,000 -- up 34 percent -- representing a new quarterly record by more than 400,000 units.

iPods showed some year-over-year growth at 10.2 million units, up 17 percent from last year. Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter of 2008, Apple forecasts revenue of about $9.2 billion on earnings per share of about $1.42.