Apple ships iPod nanos in record numbers

The iPod nano, which is thinner than a No. 2 pencil and can hold up to 1,000 digital songs in its 4GB version, helped Apple Computer Inc. sell a record number of handheld devices in the just closed fourth quarter. Sparked by sales of the iPod nano, which also integrates with the iTunes Music Store at Apple.com/itunes, Apple sold 6.4 million iPods in its 2005 fourth quarter, a 220% increase from 2 million units from the same quarter in fiscal 2004.

“This is our 10th consecutive quarter of record iPod sales,” says Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer. Apple Computer Inc. introduced the iPod nano, a full-featured, pencil-thin version of the regular iPod music player in September.

“iPod nano is the biggest revolution since the original iPod,” said CEO Steve Jobs. “iPod nano is a full-featured iPod in an impossibly small size, and it’s going to change the rules for the entire portable music market.” Apple is No. 17 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites.