Apple has posted a 36 per cent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of Macintosh computers and iPods, but its lower profit margin and cautious outlook disappointed investors.
Shares of Apple fell one per cent after the company, known for conservative financial forecasts, gave a profit outlook for its current quarter that was below Wall Street estimates.
Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer also said he expected gross margin to be similar to the March quarter's 32.9 per cent, which was down from 35.1 per cent a year ago.
Apple said it expected profit of $1.00 per share on revenue of $7.2 billion for its third quarter ending in June. This figure is slightly below Wall Street expectations.
The company blamed the gross margin slide on lower sales of its Leopard operating system, a price cut on the low-end iPod shuffle, and higher sales at its iTunes online music and movies store, which runs at break-even or slightly profitable.
For its second quarter ended in March, net profit rose to $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per share, from $770 million, or 87 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue grew by 43 per cent to $7.51 billion.
Sales of the company's main products exceeded or were at the top end of analysts' estimates, with Mac shipments soaring 51 per cent to nearly 2.3 million units.
Mac sales were spurred by new designs, the 'halo effect' from iPods and iPhones, and consumer frustration with Microsoft rival Windows Vista operating system.
iPod unit growth of one per cent, to 10.6 million units, flew in the face of widespread expectations of a modest fall.