Apple Computer's quarterly profit declined for the first time in two years as the Taiwan earthquake and a series of supply problems kept the company from meeting surging demand for its machines.

Apple said earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter slipped to $90 million (€83.5 million), or 51 cents (47 euro cents) a diluted share, before one-time sales and charges, from net income of $106 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier.

The company warned last month that profit might be between $75 million and $85 million, and a consensus of analysts from First Call had predicted that Apple would earn 45 cents a share. The stock fell in regular Nasdaq trading, but climbed back in late trading after the unexpectedly good results were announced. Apple's share price has multiplied three-fold since the middle of 1997, when co-founder Steve Jobs became interim chief executive. Apple shares touched $80.13 just before the company issued its September warning.

Apple revenue in the quarter fell sharply to $1.3 billion from $1.6 billion, hindered by the earthquake, which halted production for one week on Apple's iBook, the consumer portable introduced in August.

Apple previously blamed Motorola for failing to supply enough microprocessors for its souped-up G4 PowerMac desktop. On Wednesday it said it would add IBM as a second supplier of the chips as part of a Motorola-IBM deal.