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A Piper Jaffray survey of 50 Best Buy computer stores across the US found that 72 per cent had seen PC sales increase since Vista's launch last month, although 80 per cent said that they had sold fewer copies of Vista than they expected.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes that Apple's share of the computer market will decline from 2.5 per cent in December 2006 to 2.3 per cent in March 2007. However that will not reflect a decline in Mac sales, merely a surge in PC demand.

He also considers that the launch of Vista will result in more Mac sales. With Vista prompting users to upgrade, Apple is able to position Macs as an alternative option.

'The company views this season of Vista-related computer purchases as an opportunity to sell more Macs,' he wrote in a note to investors. He notes that Apple has targeted iPod-owning PC users with an email saying 'Upgrading to Vista? Think Mac.'

'Although many features of Vista are already available on Apple's current operating system, [Mac OS X] 10.4 Tiger, Apple is preparing 10.5 Leopard for a Spring release,' he wrote. 'With the release of Leopard, Mac market share will benefit from upward pressure from slight pent-up demand.'

Munster expects 40 per cent of Mac users to buy Leopard in the first year after its release, scheduled for this spring. That would amount to sales of around nine million copies, he said.