Bloomberg: iPod sales likely down in Q3

Apple's iPod shipments probably dropped in the third quarter from the second, Bloomberg.com says. It would be the first quarterly decline in more than two years and a sign that "the surge in demand for the music players may be waning." Apple's profit in the quarter more than quadrupled to $274.2 million, or 31 cents a share, from $61 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier, according to the average estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Sales likely rose 66 percent to $3.34 billion. The results would exceed Apple's forecast for profit of 28 cents and sales of $3.25 billion. But the company will say today iPod shipments dropped to 5.29 million in the three months ended in June from 5.31 million in the second, according to a survey of eight analysts.

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