∞ Analyst: Apple's 'impressive' growth sustainable

Apple on Tuesday posted over $3 billion in profit for its fiscal third quarter and also reported good sales numbers for many of its core products. According to one Wall Street analyst, that growth could be sustainable for the company. “While Apple had yet another stellar quarter, investors will wonder if the pace of growth is sustainable,” Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst, Gene Munster, said in a note to clients on Wednesday. “We believe it is, given Apple has small market share in large, growing markets.”

For the quarter, Apple set a Mac sales record of 3.47 million units, representing a 33 percent increase over the year-ago quarter. The company also sold 8.4 iPhones, a 61 percent increase over last year’s third quater.

“While many investors have been concerned that iPad would cannibalize Mac sales, we are seeing no signs of cannibalization,” said Munster. “In fact, the halo effect of Apple’s growing device user base (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) appears to be driving Mac sales, particularly internationally.”

Apple sold 3.27 million iPads during the quarter. Since it was the first quarter of sales for that device, there are no historial numbers for comparison.