Is Apple Still a Computer Company?

[Mac Reporter]

The Fool.com reports:
By Tim Beyers

Last week, we dueled over the prospects for Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL) here at Fool.com. I contended then that Apple is a Rule Breaker, and I see no reason to change that opinion after yesterday's earnings report.

Indeed, Apple's Pod people are back. Fans of the cultish music players bought more than 2 million iPods during the quarter, accounting for $537 million in sales. That led all other Apple products.

Let me say that again, because it's crucial: Apple made more money off of the iPod than it did any other product. The PowerBook portable came in second at $419 million. That appears to be a first for the Mac maker, and the transformation ought to be a bit frightening for investors. I mean, after all, Apple is a computer company, and it isn't doing all that great a job of selling desktop computers. So far, however, they're showing no fear. Apple's shares are trading more than 13% higher as of this writing.

Yet sales of the iMac and Power Mac computer lines were down substantially, in terms of both*dollars earned and units shipped. Part of the problem may be that Apple was late bringing its latest desktop -- the cleverly designed iMac G5 -- to market, missing much of the critical back-to-school season.
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