Apple Profit Jumps 78%

Apple Inc. said first-quarter profit jumped 78% after holiday shoppers snapped up iPod digital music players and Macintosh computers.

Net income rose to $1 billion, or $1.14 a share, from $565 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier, Cupertino, California-based Apple said yesterday in a statement. Sales rose 24% to $7.12 billion. Analysts anticipated profit of 78 cents, according to the average of 14 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Apple sold a record 21.1 million iPods after Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs stoked holiday demand by releasing smaller, less-expensive and higher-capacity models. Updated Macs with faster chips from Intel Corp. helped drive shipments to 1.61 million machines. Sales gained in America and abroad.