More good news on the iMac sales front: according to a MacCentral story, ZD Market Intelligence reports that the iMac was the "best-selling desktop computer" in PC superstores for the third straight month last October. The author of the study attributes the iMac's wild success primarily to its "competitive price." (The study itself is available at the ZD InfoBeads site, but we're not members, so we're relying on the second-hand info.) This data, coupled with the just-released numbers from PC Data which showed the iMac to be gaining ground in October, probably has some execs over at Apple dancing a happy little jig.

Now, while trying to reconcile this information with PC Data's sales figures for the last three months, certain questions arise. According to PC Data, the iMac was either second or third in sales for those three months, right? So how does that fit with ZD Market Intelligence's assertion that it was the "best-selling computer" for the same three months? Elementary, my dear Watson-- PC Data is apparently counting sales in all retail storefronts, while ZD's figures only cover computers sold in "PC superstores." "Fred's Computer Hut" need not apply.

So what exactly qualifies a retail sales outlet as a "superstore," anyway? Salespeople who talk faster than a speeding bullet but who can't sell when in the presence of kryptonite? (Personally, we sense that all it takes is a superhuman ability to avoid advertising Apple products and the possession of an Uncanny Reappearing Stocking Ladder, but that's just our natural bitterness shining through.) Whatever it is, we're interested to know if Best Buy makes the cut, and if they do, how their sales will affect the iMac's superstore ranking. We haven't heard very much about the iMac's popularity in Best Buy, but we've sure had an earful of tales of incompetent and unknowledgable salespeople, and also some reports that CompUSA has been stealing iMac customers from Best Buy with their better pricing and more interesting bundles. Still, every little bit helps.