Considering all the hype surrounding the iPhone, it's easy to forget that Apple Inc. is first and foremost a personal computer company.

While the iPhone is Apple's most buzz-inducing product, it is the Macintosh computer division that is expected to take centre stage when the Cupertino, Calif.-based company reports its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets close today.

For the past two quarters, analysts have worried that sales of Apple's computers could be pinched by the consumer spending slowdown in the United States. But after a pair of market research studies last week revealed that Apple has, in fact, surpassed Taiwan's Acer Inc. to become the No. 3 computer maker in the United States, investors are now expecting much better news.

"There's been so much focus on the iPhone, rightfully so, that I think a lot of people are forgetting [Apple has] a pretty decent computer business as well," said Andrew Hargreaves, a senior research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore. "They are probably the best brand in consumer electronics right now."

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Posted at 05:38AM Jul 21, 2008 by Kevin P McAuliffe in Inform  |  Comments[0]