Apple domestic desktop sales strong, iPhone sales slow in China

According to numbers released by NPD, Apple's share of retail desktop revenue in October was 47.71 percent, up from 33.44 percent last year at this time. Betanews reports that these numbers are slightly artificial due to the fact that Apple released new, faster iMacs during this period while PC sales lagged in the face of the Windows 7 launch later in the month.

Apple's position in the notebook arena is strong at 33.6 percent of retail revenue share, but is actually lower than the 38.13 percent share of last October. Last October, Apple introduced new Macbook Pro models and the higher revenue share numbers can be attributed to this. Apple often sees large bumps in sales in the wake of new product launches, something that obviously cannot be sustained year-to-year.

Apple's average retail selling price during this period for desktops was nearly $900 more than the average Windows PC, while the average Mac laptop was also close to $900 more.

Memory supplies strong due to slow iPhone sales in China

Distributors of Samsung NAND and DRAM flash memory recently remarked that supplies have stabilized after two months of shortage. This was due to priority being placed on Apple products. The supply shortage has ended mainly due to slow iPhone sales in China, reports Digitimes. According to industry sources, Samsung has increased total chip output in response to seasonal demand.

AppleInsider reported in October that demand for flash memory had far outstripped supply for major manufactures due to the popularity of Apple devices.