News.com is reporting, [Edit: ThinkSecret seems to have broken the story first. - Editor], that Apple will be selling iPods through Targetis retail outlets, giving Apple a much broader exposure to mainstream consumers. Apple also recently announced a deal with once and future Apple retailer Best Buy for the same thing. The piece quotes Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham, who says that Apple might be able to move as many as half a million iPods this quarter because of the Target deal. If that should be the case, it would offer a significant boost to Appleis bottom line. From the News.com article:

The Mac maker declined to comment on the move, although several Target stores confirmed they had the devices on hand, with stores reporting both Macintosh and Windows models on hand. A corporate spokesperson for Target Stores was not immediately available for comment.

The move broadens Appleis distribution of its popular MP3 music player in time for this yearis holiday shopping season.

"It could sort of save the December quarter given the sorry state of home PC sales," said Needham analyst Charles Wolf, who owns Apple shares.

Wolf estimated that Apple might be able to sell as many as half a million of the devices this quarter, assuming the company can grab about 15 percent of the world market for portable music players and sales reach the 4 million units that some market researchers are projecting.

If so, Wolf said Apple might be able to do better than its recent estimate that sales for the quarter would be "slightly up" from last quarter.

There is more information, including more commentary, in the full News.com article.