Apple Doesn’t Expect Profits Any Time Soon

Apple Computer Inc. doesn’t expect to be profitable until the fourth quarter, “if not later,” the computer maker said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Previously, Apple Chairman Gilbert Amelio said the company would be profitable by the fourth quarter.

Apple Computer also said it fired about 900 people as of Dec. 27 under a restructuring announced in April. It now expects that plan to result in the loss of 1,500 jobs, down from 2,800 initially announced.

In its SEC filing, Apple said it expects to record a “substantial loss” in the second quarter after taking a $300 million charge for research and development at NeXT Software Inc., which it acquired Friday.