STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's business news starts with a blockbuster year for Apple.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Profits may be down for banks in other companies but not for Apple which, last night, announced its profits jumped 67 percent in the last quarter. That blew all but the most hopeful estimates out of the water.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: For years, Apple has had only about a two percent share of the computer market, but now its slice has grown to eight percent. This is probably because of the iPod phenomenon. More than 120 million iPods had been sold since the device debuted in 2001 and that portable music player has led many consumers to the Mac computer. The iPhone is also driving up Apple's fortunes. Apple has sold 1.4 million iPhones since its June launch which means the iPhone is selling better than the iPod first dip.
Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter profits jump 67 percent to cap a year of unprecedented momentum in its Macintosh computer business, as well as continued demand for iPods and the successful launch of the iPhone.