iBook takes over as number one in retail notebooks

Like its iMac predecessor, the Apple iBook is cleaning up at the retail cash register. The machine left the rest of the notebook field in the dust during its October debut as the machine has instantly become the top selling retail portable computer in the U.S. market. The iBook, which comes in blueberry and tangerine colors, surpassed sales of the popular Compaq Presario, Toshiba Satellite and IBM ThinkPad notebook series.

"iBook is the first portable designed expressly for consumers and students. Customer response has been incredible and we are working hard to meet the tremendous demand," said Apple’s Steve Jobs. iBook sales were slow initially because the Taiwan earthquake disrupted operations at two major Taiwan-based iBook production houses. Because the holiday shopping season is just getting underway, the iBook is likely to come out on top for the entire 4th quarter in notebook sales.