Apple Computer's quarterly financial results showed strong growth in iPod and MacBook sales and soundly beat analysts' expectations.

Apple reported 8.1 million iPod sales, an increase of 32 percent over the year-ago period, and it shipped nearly 800,000 of its new MacBook portables, even though they had been on sale for only six weeks during the quarter, writes the New York Times. It shipped 1.33 million Macintosh personal computers, a 12 percent increase over the year-ago quarter.

Apple's net income for the third quarter of its fiscal year increased 48 percent, to $472 million, or 54 cents a share, from $320 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier. Analysts had expected 44 cents a share. Apple's revenues increased 24 percent, to $4.37 billion, from $3.52 billion a year earlier.

Apple projected revenues of $4.5-$4.6 billion for its fourth quarter.