“Apple Inc. appears headed for yet another rosy fiscal fourth quarter, with sales of both Macs and its new iPhone handset tracking ahead of expectations, an American Technology Research analyst said Wednesday,” Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.

“Advising clients in a research note, analyst Shaw Wu cited sources who indicate that the Cupertino-based firm’s Mac business continues to see strength driven by back-to-school buying and share gains from Windows PC switchers,” Marsal reports. “In particular, Wu said, demand for the company’s high-end MacBook Pros and new aluminum iMacs are robust.”

“Meanwhile, there is no evidence that consumers are pausing their Mac sales in anticipation of receiving bundles copies of Mac OS X Leopard in the October timeframe, he said,” Marsal reports.

Wu also says that iPhone sales “remain so strong that Apple will likely exceed its own guidance for unit sales of the device,” Marsal reports. For the quarter, Wu forecasts iPhone sales of 770,000 units and describes his estimate of 1.95 million Mac unit sales as “conservative.”

More in the full article here.