Apple’s earnings will be higher than expected.

The second-largest maker of personal computers said profits for the current quarter, which ends March 28, will be “in the range of $32 million,” or more than three times the $10-million profit that it reported a year earlier. John Sculley, chairman of the Cupertino, Calif., company, attributed the results to “improved manufacturing and inventory management practices as well as a favorable proportion of high margin sales.”