Apple announced today that its Q4 profits for fiscal 2009 were 47 percent higher than those at the end of 2008. The company earned more than $1.6 billion on almost $10 billion in sales. If Apple can maintain that run rate, the company could post sales that begin to close in on the $61 billion Dell posted for its fiscal 2009. Apple’s results are most impressive for a company that doesn’t sell any Windows-based computers.

Sales of Macs as well as iPhones contributed to the jump. This result deflates the concept that the company is growing only through iPhones and iPods. Apple sold more Macs in its latest quarter than ever in the company’s history. iPhones also set a record for sales.

Last night on Fox TV we saw two commercials, one after the other, where an iPhone was featured in an ad for another product. Pizza Hut has an app. So did e-Trade. It might be considered a phone, but this product is being treated by businesses as a portable computer.

It’s hard to say why or when Apple will release a netbook-sized device, but the rumors point toward a mid-spring release of a 10-inch touch-activated tablet: something to read newspapers and books on, as well as surf the Web. You can do all that now on the iPhone, but reading Web pages and PDF files, or writing on e-mail sites, Twitter and other social networks can be easier with a new tablet-sized netbook.

It will be interesting to see where such a product debuts on the priceline, and whether it pulls sales out of the iPhone column. “Where’s the Apple netbook?” has been a relentless question from stock analysts for the past year. Today’s results show that Apple has not needed a netbook up to now.

O'Reilly has released its Snow Leopard guide

Apple’s Snow Leopard OS has been out for community use about six weeks. The drumbeat of praise and promises about it runs high by now. You may be wondering if it’s time to spend $29 and upgrade to get new features and some speed increase.

It depends. Support for your programs is the most important factor to consider when you upgrade, so long as the OS isn’t buggy. Small businesses might have to wait awhile, though, since a key accounting package is dragging a club foot to get ready for Snow Leopard.

Despite the fact that a Missing Manual Book, as well as three Taking Care Of e-books for Snow Leopard are on the market, QuickBooks for Mac 2009 cannot make the leap on the Leopard’s back. Users were never fond of QB Mac 2009, but they use it, mostly because their accountants are often running the program on Windows. QB’s vendor Intuit knows how to take care of QuickBooks Windows users. (That’s the version you see in the Office Depot aisles.) Mac users, not so much. Read the rest of this entry »