Apple is on pace to build 30 to 35 new stores per year and retail and online sales are outpacing overall company growth. "On average, each Apple store is now on a $25 million sales per year run rate, compared to $31 million for Best Buy (nyse: BBY - news - people )," Prudential noted. Apple stores are also averaging sales of $4,000 per square foot, compared to $350 for outlets of Wal-Mart Stores (nyse: WMT - news - people ).

The conference got underway Sunday night with Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs giving a sneak preview of a forthcoming version of iTunes, the software for buying and managing digital-music files, that could boost the popularity of podcasting.

Podcasting, an inexpensive, do-it-yourself style of broadcasting, has become increasingly mainstream: Mr. Jobs cited podcasts put together by everyone from enthusiastic amateurs to major media players such as Clear Channel Communications, Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting and NPR. But until now, he noted, downloading and subscribing to podcasts has required users to download third-party applications to run atop iTunes.

That will go away in iTunes 4.9, which Mr. Jobs demonstrated for conference attendees and said would be available within the next 60 days. ITunes 4.9 will integrate free podcasts as a menu item, allowing users to listen to podcasts and subscribe to them, with new podcasts they subscribe to downloaded to their iPods when the devices are synched to an iTunes-enabled computer.

"I think this will send it into orbit," Mr. Jobs said.

Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) has been in talks that could lead to a decision soon to use Intel Corp. (INTC) chips in its Macintosh computer line, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The report, citing two industry executives with knowledge of recent discussions between the companies, said Apple will agree to use Intel chips.

Neither company would confirm the report and an Apple spokeswoman told the Journal she would characterize it as "rumor and speculation."

It was unclear whether such a move would signal a large-scale shift away from chips made by IBM (IBM), Apple's longtime supplier, the report said.

Apple could choose to add some Intel-based models to its product line or make a complete shift to Intel's chip technology in what would be seen as a serious blow to IBM's microprocessor business, the newspaper said.

UPDATE: Consensus among people I've talked to is that the Fox story is misleading—the Intel talks aren't centering on the Mac at all, but on other areas where other chips than the x86 are useful to Apple. Like, say, the ARM, which currently powers the iPaq and could potentially be worked into a super-iPod with more PDA functions...