Apple beats expectations

Huge demand for iPod portable digital music players helped Apple Computer Inc. more than triple its second-quarter earnings and easily beat Wall Street expectations.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker said Wednesday its net income was $46 million, or 12 cents a share, for the three months ended March 27. In the year-ago quarter, Apple reported net income of $14 million, or 4 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings of 10 cents per share on revenue of $1.8 billion.

The company reported record sales of 807,000 iPods for the quarter, up more than 900 percent from the prior year, bringing the total to about 2.8 million since the gadget was first introduced in 2001.

Technology

Amazon latest to enter search engine market

Online retailer Amazon.com quietly launched an Internet search service Wednesday, jumping into a marketplace already crowded with offerings from Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft Corp.

The service, in test mode for now, is operated by a Palo Alto, Calif.-based subsidiary and branded separately.

Like its competitors, Amazon’s A9.com offers both a Web site and an Internet Explorer toolbar from which users can enter search terms.

Wall Street

Bank of America posts first-quarter profits

Solid growth in consumer lending as well as in investment and brokerage services boosted first-quarter profits at Bank of America Corp. above Wall Street analysts’ expectations.

The bank, based in Charlotte, N.C., said Wednesday its net income totaled $2.68 billion, or $1.83 per share, in the January-March quarter, up 11 percent from the $2.42 billion, or $1.59 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 7 percent to $9.69 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast earnings of $1.80 per share.