Apple reports lower net income

Apple has reported lower second quarter net income today.

At $14m (€12.83m), or 4 cents a share, it was down 65% from $40m (€36.6m), or 11 cents a share, a year earlier.

Apple said that part of the reason for the lower net income was greater spending in research and development and in opening new retail stores.

Revenue was slightly lower, down 1.3% from $1.5bn (€1.37bn) to $1.48bn (€1.35bn), as Macintosh shipments fell to 711,000 from 813,000 in the prior second quarter.

However, there was an increase in the sales of it notebook PCs.

In regard to its reported offer for Vivendi, CEO Steve Jobs said that the company had not made an offer, but he did not deny that the companies were in talks.

It is expected that Apple will soon launch an online music service on which consumers can download content from some of the large music companies.