APPLE SHARES jumped as much as 4.5 per cent in Nasdaq trading yesterday after price cuts attracted more first-time buyers for Macintosh personal computers during the last quarter, helping sales and profit top analysts estimates.

Mac sales accelerated after Apple cut prices in June, chief operating officer Tim Cook said yesterday. The company sold 2.6 million Macs, beating the 2.4 million predicted by Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers in San Francisco.

Sales of the iPhone also topped estimates. “The Mac sales were huge,” said Wu, who recommends buying Apple shares.

Apple posted a 12 per cent gain in sales and a 15 per cent increase in third-quarter profit, even as other technology companies cope with waning demand from consumers and businesses.

Yahoo!, owner of the second most-visited group of websites in the US, reported sales yesterday that failed to top analysts’ estimates. – (Bloomberg)