How the Mac weathered the downturn

Click to enlarge. Chart: Alexis W. Cabot

"The current recession has lowered overall sales of PCs, but Macs have been the least affected," writes Alexis W. Cabot (awcabot on The Mac Observer's Apple Finance Board), who used the data he's been tracking on Apple's (AAPL) computer sales for nearly a decade to create the growth-rate chart above.

"Macs have been on a roll ever since I have comparable data, with an exception during the [2005-2006] Intel transition," he says. "This proves either that value is always in high demand, or that we will always have the rich among us."

Note: the dotted line is Cabot's projection, and the last four data points submitted by Gartner are preliminary.

See also:

• Chart: Where Apple gets its revenue
• Apple blow-out: Profits jump 89.5%
• The bloggers called it. The Street blew it.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]