Mac Mojo Bolsters Apple

Apple observers were especially pleased with the stellar Mac growth, given the computer industry as a whole.

"IDC and Gartner just released their numbers... Apple grew at four times the industry, which implies very strong share gains," says Chirag Vasavada, an investment analyst with T. Rowe Price, which holds Apple shares.

Compared with a Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) PC and a Dell (DELL Quote) PC and a Gateway (GTW Quote) PC, Apple's PC is "a differentiated product in an otherwise commodity market," Vasavada says.

And by moving to Intel (INTC Quote) chips, customers still can run Windows, making the barriers to adoption lower, Vasavada says.

In addition, unlike pure hardware vendors that ship their PCs with Windows, Apple does not have to pay a percentage to Microsoft (MSFT Quote) each time a unit is shipped, Vasavada says. Apple machines can run Windows, but doesn't sell Windows-based PCs.

"They've changed the competitive landscape dramatically," he says.

Others cited the so-called halo effect -- the theory that iPod owners, seduced by the sleek design and user-friendly product, will increasingly migrate toward Macs -- could be now be unfolding.

Steve Lidberg, who covers Apple for Pacific Crest Securities, wrote that for the past three quarters, more than half of Apple store customers are new to the Mac platform, according to Apple management. Pacific Crest makes a market in Apple.