Apple Computer yesterday said it made a net profit of $61 million (#71 million), or 17 cents a share, in the quarter ended June 30th. The earnings for the third fiscal quarter were above the First Call/Thomson Financial's consensus of analysts of 15 cents a share.

But the company's revenues of $1.475 billion was below the expected $1.6 billion. The earnings compared with a profit of $200 million in the same period a year ago.

The company, which employs 1,200 people at its Cork city plant, said it shipped 827,000 Macintosh units during the quarter, which is an increase from 751,000 machines in the previous quarter, but down from 1,016,000 units shipped in the third quarter 2000.

Apple's chief executive, Mr Steve Jobs, said the quarter was highlighted by sales of the company's computers to educators.

"We had a great education quarter, with significant year over year growth, and a great iBook quarter," said Mr Jobs in a statement. Apple reported it sold 306,000 iBooks laptops in the third quarter, up six thousand units from the last quarter, and almost triple what the company sold in the third quarter 2000.

Apple's chief financial officer, Mr Fred Anderson, said the company was able to maintain profits in what he called a "weak economic environment" by keeping inventories low. Earlier in the month, the company stopped making its troubled Mac G4 Cube computer after disappointing sales.

In May, the company unveiled plans to open 25 US retail stores by year's end. That retail effort, the company said, would break even by the fourth quarter of this year.