According to the latest data from Gartner and IDC, Apple continues to gain market share in the personal computer industry. In fact, it's the fastest growing company among the top five US computer makers (see http://macte.ch/4Lanv).

I expect this to continue, thanks to the popularity of iOS devices and the apparent huge success of iCloud, Apple's cloud service. iClouds lets you sync calendars, contacts, email, bookmarks and more across multiple OS X and iOS X devices When it comes to iTunes -- one of Apple's crown jewels (though it needs an overhaul as it's become too bloated) -- iCloud´s purchase history lets you re-download purchased content from any device at any time.

That's very cool and very convenient. What's more, as more and more customers get used to using an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and storing all their data in iCloud, chances are good that they'll eye a Mac when they make their next computer purchase. If I'm right about this, then the iPad and iOS device aren't hurting Mac sales, but are actually fueling them.

On the other hand, iOS devices do seem to be hurting sales of PeeCees.

-- Dennis Sellers