Year: 2002

PowerPC G4 processor maker Motorola posted a second-quarter loss of $2.32 billion, or $1.02 a share, on sales of $6.74 billion. More than half of the loss was attributed to losses in semiconductor sales. Excluding charges, the company posted a small profit in the second quarter of two cents. Specifically, Motorola posted a profit of $48 million, much improved from the loss of $238 million a year ago. Analysts expected a loss of 4 cents a share.

A breakdown of Apple’s third-quarter sales show Power Mac G4, PowerBook G4, and iBook sales off by double digits from a year ago, while flat-panel iMac sales helped propel iMac sales by 46%. Power Mac G4 sales were off 31% from a year ago, PowerBook sales down 10%, and iBook unit sold off 16%. Other peripherals were up 19%. Apple sold 808,000 Mac systems in the quarter: 378,000 iMacs, 169,000 iBooks, 167,00 Power Mac G4s, and 94,000 PowerBook G4s.

Apple has posted a third-quarter profit of US$32 million, or 9 cents per share, on revenues of $1.43 billion, meeting reduced estimates. Apple’s earnings were down 8 cents per share from the year-ago quarter, while revenues were down 3 percent. Apple shipped 808,000 Macs during the quarter, down 2 percent form the year ago. “Even in this extended worldwide downturn, Apple is continuing to be profitable and continuing to innovate,” Steve Jobs said in a statement.

MacMinute reader Curt Risor noticed a recent Computerworld magazine that discusses some of the many positive experiences that IT professionals have enjoyed using Mac OS X.

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