MacBook "Clear Winner" in Apple's Retail Stores

Retail checks for this year's largest shopping weekend revealed that MacBooks were the clear winner among the electronics maker's family of computers - which include the iMac, the Mac mini, and Mac Pro.

"Based on our data, MacBooks were perceived to have generated greater interest (and purchases) than iMacs among consumers this past weekend, and we believe this will continue throughout the holiday season," said ThinkEquity analyst, Darren Aftahi.

Of retail stores surveyed, 91% of the stores perceived that purchases of MacBooks exceeded those of iMacs. MacBooks trumped in terms of popularity, as well, with 80% of stores perceiving them to be more popular than iMacs, this past weekend.

The MacBook represent the Cupertino, Calif .-based company's line of notebook computers, while the others are desktops.

A worldwide shift away from desktop machines towards portable computers affirms the MacBook's popularity over its cousin.

From last year, notebooks sales jumped by 49% Overall PC revenues grew by 30%. The desktop computers did fair well among certain categories of people, however.

"MacBooks are more popular among the college population, while iMacs are favored by families," the analyst explained.