By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 03:00 PM EST (12:00 PM PST)

New data from the NPD Group implies Apple could announce sales of 2.9 million Macs and 10 million iPods when it reveals its earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 Tuesday afternoon.

The data was revealed Monday by analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray in a note to investors. NPD's findings suggest Apple sold between 2.8 million and 2.9 million Macs in the March quarter, which would be an increase of 25 percent year-over-year. Munster expects those totals to skew slightly higher, to as much as 31 percent growth.

iPod sales, too, were strong for the first three months of calendar 2010, up 3 percent in the U.S. over the same timeframe in 2009. Munster said the NPD data suggests iPod sales between 9 million and 10 million sales for the quarter, which, despite domestic growth, would represent between 9 percent and 17 percent less than in 2009 worldwide.

"We believe this data suggests slight upside to Mac and iPod in the quarter, and Apple's announcement of 50m+ iPhones sold to date on 4/8 also suggests upside for the iPhone segment," Munster wrote.

It was a few weeks ago that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed that has company has sold more than 50 million iPhones worldwide to date. As noted by Munster last week, that means Apple sold at least 6.9 million iPhones in the March quarter, and likely many more.

Munster again presented an "aggressive case," in which Apple could have sold 7.8 million iPhones in the three-month frame, bringing the worldwide all-time total to 51 million handsets. Wall Street consensus, he said, calls for Apple to have sold 6.8 million iPhones.

The analyst also noted that Apple continues to have favorable comparisons on its side for the first half of the year. In the first six months of 2009, the average year-over-year growth rate was down 1 percent, putting Apple in a position to exceed expectations.



In its first quarter of the 2010 fiscal year, Apple sold a record 3.36 million Macs, as well as 8.7 million iPhones, and 21 million iPods over the holiday season. Munster has high hopes for Apple in 2010, particularly in terms of Mac sales, dubbing it the "Year of the Mac."

Apple will officially announce its quarterly earnings, along with Mac, iPhone and iPod sales, after the market closes Tuesday afternoon.