CF Apple Computer

(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)Cupertino, California based Apple (AAPL) reported a 26% jump in the profit; way above the analyst estimates.Net income for the fourth quarter rose to $1.14 billion, or $1.26 a share, on revenue of $7.9 billion, up from $904 million, or $1.01 a share, on $6.22 billion in sales in the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had forecast Apple to earn $1.10 a share on revenue of $8.02 billion.

The numbers would have been more stunning had the Apple not change the way it records revenue for the iPhone and Apple TV. Revenue is now realized over the two-year lifespan of the product, not fully at the time of sale. if iPhone and Apple TV revenue were included in the pile, Apple would have seen revenue of $11.68 billion and net income of $2.44 billion. iPhone was a big part of Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter, with 39% of total revenue coming from the device.

The jump is also being attributed to the launch of faster 3G version of iPhone in July. Apple said it sold 6.89 million iPhones, beating analyst estimates as well and outselling RIM’s Blackberry. Chief Executive Steve Jobs called the iPhone’s erformance “remarkable”. “This is a milestone for us” Jobs said. He also said Apple is now the third-largest mobile phone supplier by revenue behind Nokia and Samsung Electronics.

Apple sold 2.6 million Mac computers up 21% from the year-ago quarter when it shipped 2.2 million. Macs slowed to unit growth of 21%, down from 41% in the third quarter, 51% in the second quarter and 44% in the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer attributed the slower growth to softness in education and launch of new laptop in October, which led many customers to delay their buying plans in the quarter.

As written by one MacFixIt reader: “What is Apple thinking? Where is the FireWire port? How are we going to do target firewire mode?” Indeed, the elimination of FireWire target disk mode leaves a huge troubleshooting gap. Many users utilize FireWire target disk mode to diagnose issues, retrieve files from otherwise defunct computers, run disk repairs while booted from another drive in lieu of a Mac OS X startup disc and perform other procedures.

Apple is now removing threads on its own discussion boards that mention the lack of FireWire connectivity on the new MacBooks.

MacFixIt reader Scott Rose writes: “Apparently, Apple doesn’t want anybody talking about the lack of FireWire ports on the new MacBooks, because they keep deleting every thread that people are posting about the lack of FireWire ports on the New MacBooks! I was participating in 3 different threads on the Apple Discussion Boards regarding the lack of FireWire from the new MacBooks, and Apple has removed every single thread regarding this topic.

There are no threads left on the Apple Discussion Boards regarding this issue!” The elimination of FireWire also spells trouble for iMovie users, who will no longer be able to directly connect cameras that use the protocol. The new MacBooks still ship with iMovie, but Apple apparently expects users to work with a USB-capable camera or import data to another system first.