HP reported today that their profit was up fourfold from a year ago. Their income for this quarter was $1.7 billion and they ended the year with $91.7 billion worth of sales, which meant they surpassed IBM as the world’s biggest technology company in terms of revenue.

The interesting thing about all these giant numbers, as always, is how much of HP’s profits come from their printing and imaging division. That division had an operating profit of $1.1 billion on total sales of $7.3 billion. For comparison, their computer division had a profit of $336 million on sales of $7.8 billion. To be fair, computers sales always involve very low margins, but it is still a stark contrast and their printer division continues to be their most profitable year after year.

HP’s overall ink and toner cartridge sales were up 9% over last year, so they must be doing something right. They didn’t exactly set the world on fire with any of their new models in the last year, so the increase must just be due to the size and availability of their printer line.

H-P profit rises fourfold; sales up 7%, topping views [MarketWatch]