Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- EMC Corp., the world's largest maker of data-storage computers and software, said fourth-quarter profit almost tripled as the company reported higher sales of its more expensive products.

Net income rose to $388.8 million, or 18 cents a share, from $148.3 million, or 6 cents, a year earlier, EMC said today in a statement. Revenue advanced 19 percent to $3.21 billion.

Sales of EMC's largest computers increased 3.6 percent, the biggest gain since 2000, as customers required more space to store digital documents. The demand for storage and a new product line helped the Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based company win a greater share of business from rival Hewlett-Packard Co.

``They had a solid quarter,'' said Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Portland, Oregon-based Pacific Crest Securities who rates EMC ``outperform'' and said he doesn't own the shares. ``H-P had been growing faster than EMC and the tide is now shifting in favor of EMC.''

Shares of EMC rose 8 cents to $13.55 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock fell 3.1 percent last year.

The company forecast full-year revenue will rise 14 percent to at least $12.7 billion and predicted earnings per share of at least 64 cents. Analysts estimate 63 cents profit on sales of $12.7 billion, according to Bloomberg data.

`Disappointing'

Excluding some items, fourth-quarter profit was 17 cents, matching the average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Joe Tucci, whose company missed quarterly forecasts twice in 2006, said changes and increasing sales will bolster next year's results.

``Positive momentum will propel us to a successful 2007,'' he said on a conference call. ``2006 was disappointing.''

EMC is cutting about 4 percent of its workforce after $7 billion in acquisitions over the past three years. EMC said Jan. 5 it would cut 1,350 jobs and close offices to integrate 21 acquisitions, which include RSA Security Inc., VMWare Inc. and Documentum Inc.

That move led to costs of $175 million, or 6 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, while tax benefits added about 7 cents to per-share profit in the period. Vice Chairman William Teuber said in an interview that EMC will try to control costs this year so that profit growth outpaces sales.

``We're looking to drive revenue and also be very focused on where we spend out money,'' he said.

Higher Sales

EMC retook its position as the world's biggest storage computer maker in the third quarter with sales of its highest priced machines, research firm IDC said Dec. 1. EMC sells about 21 percent of the world's storage machines.

Sales of EMC computers, the largest of which cost as much as $1 million and store up to 2 trillion phone-call records, rose 12 percent to $1.46 billion in the fourth quarter. Customers include the Boston Red Sox baseball team, which uses EMC Clariion machines to store video and statistics. Sales of the mid-range Clariion system rose 18 percent.

Revenue from software that operates EMC machines gained 27 percent to $1.27 billion. Services, or revenue from setting up and maintaining computer systems, rose 20 percent to $481.5 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ron Day in New York at rday1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 23, 2007 16:19 EST