Forbes Says Apple Was 'The Big Winner' in May Retail PC Sales

Forbes on Thursday reported that Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) has declared Apple "the big winner" in May retail PC sales, despite a slowdown in overall PC shipments. CSFB said in a research report that Apple saw units grow 79% year-over-year overall and 94% in standalone retail. Gateway was up 37% year-over-year in its retail business while Hewlett-Packardis sales slid 10% on a year-over-year basis. Dell, however, was not included since it doesnit sell to retail.

Mayis 6% year-over-year growth was the first single-digit month since October 2003. However, CSFB expects worldwide PC unit sales to grow 8% in 2005 and has rated Apple and Dell as "outperform" stocks with US$45 price targets. The research firm obtained its data from NPD and cautioned that investors shouldnit overanalyze the numbers, since "this is not the first time units have slowed before immediately recovering -- October 2003 -- in the following month."