Apple Profit Falls 70% in Quarter

Apple Computer Inc. said fiscal third-quarter profit fell 70% to $61 million, or 17 cents a share, amid weakening demand for personal computers.

Revenue fell 19% to $1.48 billion, missing forecasts, but was up from the previous quarter’s $1.43 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting Apple to earn 15 cents a share on sales of $1.57 billion, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.

The company’s shares fell $2.35 to $22.75 in extended trading after the earnings report. Apple had closed up $1.14 at $25.10 on Nasdaq.

Income from the redesigned iBook laptops for consumers and students jumped 59% as the number of those sold jumped 81% from a year ago and tripled from the previous quarter.

Sales of desktop and laptop computers for graphic designers fell from the year-earlier period and previous quarter. Overall computer sales were down from 20% from a year ago.