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Apple said it shipped 2.2 million Macs in its second fiscal quarter of 2008, increasing sales by 51 percent over the same quarter in 2007.

Globally, Apple sold 856,000 desktops during the quarter, and 1.4 million notebooks-year-to-year increases of 37 percent and 61 percent respectively.  The total of 2.29 million Macs was just below the record 2.32 million sold in the last three months of 2007

"Totaling its Americas revenue with that of its retail stores, more than 80% of which are in the U.S., revenue increased 43% year-to-year, and units sold increased [by] 52.5%," Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research told ComputerWorld.

"TBR believes Apple has established itself as a real and often better choice for consumer purchasers of higher-end PCs."

Apple posted earnings of $1.05 billion, up from $770 million a year ago, on revenues of $7.51 billion, up from $5.26 billion in 2007. Its profit margin was 32.9 percent, down from 35.1 percent from the same quarter in 2007.

"The effect of Apple's transition to the Intel platform, which allows Macs to run Windows, combined with the disappointment in Microsoft's Vista operating system, has given Apple enormous momentum in the U.S. market," Gottheil said.