View this article at: http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/02/19/apple.profit.surge/ Thursday, Feb 19, 2004 5:20pm Apple leads tech pack in profit surge BusinessWeek reports that companies in 2003 posted the highest profit surge in history. Apple recorded the largest increase among tech companies, a 552 percent jump in annual profits to $137 million, thanks to strong sales of its computers and the iPod. By comparison, the crowded software industry didn't see such a sharp increase. "Although profits at Oracle rose 22%, to $2.5 billion last year, sales climbed a meager 4% [...] Microsoft barely surpassed the industry's 8% total annual sales gain, with an 11% increase, to $34.3 billion."