Apple's Big Mac

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"If it succeeds, and expands across all of Best Buy, it could increase Apple's retail footprint by 10%," says Munster. "That will dramatically boost the U.S. go-to-market strategy with the Mac. I bet a year from now they're in half of Best Buy's stores."

The quarter also capped a fiscal year when Apple sold 5.3 million Macs and 39 million iPods, recorded $19.3 billion in sales, and stacked up a $1.9 billion profit. Applying that rate across the board to Apple's stores, Cook said that means each store added 1,000 new Mac users during the quarter.

But looking ahead, Apple said sales in the all-important first fiscal quarter, which includes the forthcoming holiday season, will be $6 billion to $6.2 billion. That's in line with the expectations of analyst Shaw Wu at American Technology Research in San Francisco, who says consensus forecasts of $6.5 billion are too optimistic.

"They Guide Conservative"

Munster says Apple's just being conservative. "They guide conservative every quarter," he says. "The only way to get value out of Apple's guidance is to take what they say and then increase it by 8 percent." Applying Munster's argument to Apple's official guidance for the December quarter suggests sales could be as high as $6.5 billion.

Apple said its results are preliminary, pending the final outcome of an internal investigation into the backdating of stock options that it says could result in the restatement of certain historical results from 1997 to 2002. It's not yet clear how large the restatement will be.

No hints emerged on any future Apple products, including the long-rumored iPod-wireless phone hybrid, which has been the subject of persistent rumors for about two years now (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/19/06, "Another Music Phone? Yawn…"). Apple execs were equally mum on any plans for another long-rumored addition to the iPod family of products that has been the subject of speculation, given the looming fifth anniversary of the original iPod launch on Oct. 23.

Minor Virus Outbreak

News of Apple's record-breaking results emerged on the same day it disclosed that some of its recently shipped iPods contained a virus that can affect computers running Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows operating system. The company says that less than 1% of iPods shipped since Sept. 12 are affected by the virus, and that fewer than 25 people have reported problems relating to it.

The iPods contracted the virus, known as the RavMonE.exe virus, from Windows PCs at the site of the iPod's contract manufacturer, which presumably would be Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry. The company says commercial antivirus software from companies like Symantec (SYMC), McAfee (MFE), and Microsoft can eliminate the virus.

But even the slight pall of the options mess and the iPod virus outbreak couldn't dull the shine of another record quarter and fiscal year for the Cupertino (Calif.)-based computer maker.

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.