Apple’s fourth quarter results (revenues of $6.22 billion and net quarterly profit of $904 million) drove the share price up by over 6%. The revenue growth was 28.5% and profits grew by over 66%. The upshot is that Apple is now worth more than IBM (160bn v 154bn approx) and hence is the most valuable computer manufacturer in the world (by market cap.).

Odd don’t you think. It has only 3.2% of the world market for PCs and yet the share price says “tallest computer giant”.

I doubt if IBM cares much. It doesn’t have a single product that competes with Apple, as far as I know. But the boys in Redmond might be a little worried. As a consequence of the better-than-expected results, Piper Jaffray increased its share price target for Apple to $250 – based on stellar projected sales figures for the iPhone and continued growth in sales of the Apple Mac. They’re also bullish about Leopard which is due out now.

Leaping To Leopard

I’ll buy a copy of Leopard and report on it in time, but right now it’s clear it’ll be worth the ticket. I already use multiple desktops and Leopard has that capability built in. It’s called Spaces. With multiple desktops you do more and work faster. It also boasts a neat back-up capability, called Time Machine. Remarkable, isn’t it, that Apple actually brands features.

I have an automatic back-up program right now, ChronoSync (I think) – but I guess I’ll use the Time Machine given the way it works – (it autosyncs everything).

Apple claims that there are 300 new features including some genuine innovations like the coverflow capability in the finder, but to be honest most of the list of 300 are trivial. But trivial can be useful too. One trivial addition is the WiFi menu, which divides the list of sites between open hotspots and password-protected ones. It’ll be a godsend to peripatetic analysts that are often found in trains stations and airports looking for hotspots. That would be me.