Album Sales Post First Yearly Gain in Four Years
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Led by Usher's blockbuster release  "Confessions," U.S. album sales rose nearly 2 percent in 2004  -- posting their first gain in four years even as digital music  downloads continued to explode, Nielsen SoundScan reported on  Wednesday.
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The iPod helped Apple's profit get up and dance. Apple Computer Inc. reported Wednesday that net income for its fourth fiscal quarter jumped 140 percent from the same period a year ago. -The Washington Post
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Apple reported strong earnings for its fourth quarter on Monday, boosted by record Macintosh computer sales and the shipment of 1.12 million iPhones.The company beat analyst estimates with net income of $904 million, or $1.01 per share, compared with $542 million, or $0.62 per share, in net income reported in last year&#39;s fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial estimated a consensus of $760.45 million in net income and earnings of $0.84 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 29.The company reported $6.22 billion in revenue, up from $4.84 billion in the fourth quarter last year. The revenue consensus from analysts polled by Thomson was for $6.07 billion.For fiscal 2007, Apple reported net revenue of $24 billion and net income of $3.5 billion, said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple&#39;s CFO, in a conference call with financial analysts.Looking ahead, the company estimates that revenue will hit $9.2 billion with earnings per share of $1.42 for the first fiscal quarter of 2008, Oppenheimer said.The company shipped 2.16 million Macs during the quarter, a 34 percent growth over the year-ago period, Apple said in a news release.Mac sales increased worldwide, spurred by back-to-school promotions, said Tim Cook, Apple&#39;s COO, on the call. In addition to rapid growth in the U.S. and Europe, Mac unit shipments also increased in Japan, a major market where Apple has traditionally struggled to grow, Cook said.Shipment of Mac notebooks, including MacBook and MacBook Pro, grew 31 percent year-over-year and accounted for 62 percent of all Macs sold, Oppenheimer said.Given the success of this back-to-school period, Mac sales could be flat in the upcoming quarter, Cook warned.Sales of the iPhone are outpacing those of the iPod during the first few months after its 2001 introduction, Cook said. The company shipped 1.39 million iPhones during the year and saw a spike in sales after a $200 price drop of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399 in September.Apple is confident it will sell 10 million iPhones in the next calendar year, Cook said.Apple sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, a 17 percent year-over-year growth. iPod has sold 120 million units to date, Oppenheimer said. The upcoming holiday shopping season will be a big quarter for iPod sales, Oppenheimer said.Apple had a busy quarter with multiple product announcements.Last month, it unveiled the&#160;iPod Touch, a portable multimedia player with a touchscreen user interface and Wi-Fi capabilities. It also announced availability of the iPhone in Europe, with U.K. network operator O2 (UK) Ltd. slated to start shipping the device in November.The company is excited about entering the Europe market, and plans to enter the Asia-Pacific market in 2008, Cook said.On the software front, Apple announced iWork &#39;08, its office applications suite, in August. Mac OS X Leopard, Apple&#39;s latest operating system, will begin shipping later this week.This story was updated on October 22, 2007
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The clothing retailer J. Crew Group reported a profit in the fourth quarter yesterday, in contrast to a loss a year ago, as sales rose.
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'Substantial progress in the last year'
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For the first time in a while, the monthly passenger figures show good growth.
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Sales of legally downloaded songs shot up more than tenfold in 2004, a music industry report says.
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The retailer said net income in the fourth quarter rose to $4.1 billion as its focus on low prices paid off. International growth also helped lift profit and sales.
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Business & money: Music and books chain reports 9.4% rise in like-for-like sales over festive period
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Californian band Maroon 5's first album in four years has gone straight to the top of the US album chart.
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Struggling apparel retailer Gap Inc.   said on Thursday that for the first time in a year its  monthly sales did not decline, and nudged up its outlook,  sparking the stock to jump as much as 4.4 percent.
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Apple Computer Inc.'s fourth quarter earnings soared on strong sales of laptop computers and its popular iPod music players, helping the company notch its highest revenue for the quarter in nine years.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. - Apple Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped 67 percent and easily beat Wall Street expectations, capping a record-breaking year that saw unprecedented momentum in its Mac business, ceaseless consumer interest in its iPod players, and a successful introduction of its newest endeavor, the iPhone.
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A rash of new British acts like The Streets and Keane propelled UK album sales to a record 237 million units in the year to the end of September, confounding predictions that music downloads would finish off the humble compact disc.
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LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - One of the strongest sellers  among music releases during the fourth quarter may be a dark  horse title.
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Profits got a boost despite sluggish sales from the challenging environment.
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A resurgence in sales helped push the brewerâs profit to $214 million in the fourth quarter.