Mac Desktop Sales Slump, Portable Mac Sales SkyrocketMac Desktop Sales Slump, Portable Mac Sales Skyrocket

Nearly lost among the results of Apple Computer's stock option investigation in the Cupertino, Calif., computer maker's annual 10-K report was news that revenue from sales of its Mac computers increased 19% during the second quarter over the same period in 2005 and climbed 18% for the year ending Sept. 30.

Total net sales for its desktop and laptop computers increased by $301 million in the second quarter to reach $1.87 billion, while sales for Apple's fiscal year jumped by $1.1 billion to post a record revenue of $7.4 billion, up 18% over 2005's $6.3 billion and up 49.8% from 2004's $4.9 billion.

Unit sales were also up. Apple sold 145,000 more systems in the second quarter of 2006 than in the previous year, and sold 769,000 more machines during the year ending Sept. 30 than in the same period a year earlier.

Like many other computer manufacturers, Apple saw its desktop sales drop dramatically as buyers continue to shift to portables. During the second quarter, the number of desktops sold plummeted by 23% from the previous quarter, while notebook sales soared by 61%. Year-end totals were less sensational: Desktop sales were off only 3% for the year ending Sept. 30, and portable sales were up 42%.

"The decrease in sales of the company's professional"oriented desktop products was a primary reason for the decline in Macintosh desktop sales," Apple's second-quarter 10-Q report stated. "The company believes the decline in the company's professional-oriented desktop products was due to customers delaying purchases of such products in anticipation of the release of Intel-based professional systems and updated software applications capable of running on Intel-based Macintosh computers."

Apple released its first Intel-powered Mac Pro models in early August, weeks after it closed the books on the second quarter.

The average price of a Mac sold during the second quarter was $1,391, up from 2005's $1,384.

Apple's annual report and quarterly statement can be downloaded as PDF files from the company's Web site.