Needham credits "triple halo" for rapid growth

A new report from Charlie Wolf, analyst at Needham & Company, indicates that Apple is enjoying unprecedented success in its Mac business, with triple the growth rate seen by the rest of the industry. Needham estimates the industry has a whole grew 9.7 percent in the September quarter, while Apple saw 28.5 percent growth. More significantly, the Mac became the dollar-share leader in the US home market, with a 29.4 percent dollar share.

The home market is not the only place where the Mac is doing well. Apple increased its business shipments over 66 percent compared to an overall growth in the market of just 8.5 percent. Despite the cancellation of the XServe, Apple's inroads in the corporate world continue to grow, in part due to the rapid adoption of the iPhone 4 and iPad in business environments.

The Company posted record revenue of $20.34 billion and net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion, or $4.64 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $12.21 billion and net quarterly profit of $2.53 billion, or $2.77 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 41.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

In its own report to analysts on October 18th, Apple said it sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter, a 27 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Macs accounted for about $1.6 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter.

Wolf expects the "multiple halo effects" of the iPod, iPhone and iPad to continue to help the Mac find wider acceptance going forward. He predicts that the Mac will continue to grow faster than the PC market as a whole.

By Electronista Staff