iLounge

Reporting its fiscal 2005 third quarter financial results on Wednesday, Apple announced that it shipped more than 6.1 million iPods during the quarter, topping all analyst estimates, which ranged from 4.8 million to 5.55 million.

With today’s report of Apple shipping 6,155,000 iPods during the quarter—about 800,000 more than last quarter and 5.3 million more than a year ago—the total number of iPods sold now stands at over 20 million.

Apple’s net profit for the quarter was $320 million, or 37 cents per share, on $3.52 billion in revenue—the highest earnings and revenue in the company’s history. These results compare to a profit of $61 million, or 8 cents a share, and revenue of $2.01 billion last year.

In an SEC filing, Apple said all iPod models accounted for more than $1.1 billion in revenue during the quarter, an increase of 343 percent compared to last year. Apple’s “Other Music Productsâ€? category, which includes the iTunes Music Store, iPod related services and accessories, accounted for $241 million of the quarter’s revenue, a 230 percent increase year-over-year.

Update: During its second quarter conference call with press and analysts, Apple said that all iPod models made up 75 percent of the entire overall MP3 player market in the month of May. The company also said that the iTunes Music Store now has an 80 percent share of the worldwide digital music business.

Apple also revealed that the iPod is currently available in more than 25,000 retail locations around the world, up from 21,000 last quarter, and that it has stepped up its partnership with Wal-Mart. Apple said that the iPod shuffle is now being sold in 95 percent of Wal-Mart stores and that the full-size iPod and iPod mini are available in 25 percent of the retail giant’s stores.