Although Wall Street freaked over the fact that Apple sold fewer iPhones in the last quarter than their inflated expectations, few predicted the level of success of the Mac in that quarter. Some 4.89 million were sold, amounting to a 26 percent increase over the same quarter in 2010.

Sure, that increase was not much higher than the increase in the number of iPhones sold. But what’s more significant is that Apple is moving more Macs in a single quarter nowadays than they could sell in an entire year not so many years ago. This is a pretty significant development, considering that PC sales, for most manufacturers, are relatively flat.

Also please take a look at Microsoft’s financials for the last quarter, where earnings for the Windows division were up a mere two percent during the same period in 2010. Sales of new PCs were up roughly 3.2 percent to 3.6 according to estimates. Quarter after quarter, Apple is reporting that the growth of Mac sales are far exceeding the rate reported by most PC makers.

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With over one week’s experience with iCloud under my belt, so to speak, I am somewhat underwhelmed with the way it works. I mean, it’s good to see Apple trying over and over again to find the road to success in building some sort of online service portfolio, but previous efforts have been hit and miss, and miss was often the operative term.

As I wrote awhile back, Apple got into the online game back in the 1980s with a service for dealers and repairers known as AppleLink. A consumer-based version was abandoned, but Apple’s partner in that venture used it as the basis for America Online. In the 1990s, Apple tried eWorld, using AOL’s technology, and gave it up after failing to provide a suitable alternative to AOL. For the 21st century, we went from iTools, to .Mac, MobileMe, and now to iCloud.

Are we there yet?

Certainly if the October 12th rollout is an example, the answer would be a big fat no, but you cannot take the initial rollout, which coincided with the release of iOS 5, Mac OS 10.7.2, and other goodies, as an example of a depressing trend. On that day and the next, my mac.com (or me.com) email worked in fits and starts.

But the real problem for me occurred in the days that followed, where regular email notices from our Web server would be unceremoniously deposited in the Junk mailbox. I turned off Junk filtering in Lion Mail with the same result, at Apple’s urging. No change. Even though I continued to flag the messages as Not Junk in the iCloud.com email reader, the messages were still regarded as spam. Worse, the problem was never consistent, and the email messages from our backup server seemed to get through without incident.

As I write this column, Apple is suggesting that, if the problem doesn’t go away, I give them permission to examine my account and see if they can find a cause. To do that, of course, I have to prove to Apple that I am the actual account holder, and provide them several tidbits of information to confirm my identity, but I’m still deciding whether to take that route.

Aside from the growing pains, Apple’s biggest problem is probably related to those notorious Apple IDs. iCloud expects you to have one, but many Apple customers have several, distributed among family members, and perhaps to separate the home and business accounts. In my case, I have the same Apple ID I set up years ago when iTunes debuted, plus one for the .Mac and MobileMe subscription plan that has lasted all these years.

What this means, of course, is that services on other accounts, such as my iTunes music library, aren’t going to integrate with my iCloud email, document storage, and so forth and so on. This has to be thoroughly confusing, and since Apple has tens upon tens of millions of accounts, they have a bear of a problem to confront. Already two reports, quoting Apple CEO Tim Cook, make it clear they are working on a solution. To me, the solution would be to allow you to integrate all of your Apple IDs into just one, if that’s what you want, after somehow proving to Apple that you are the one and only holder of all those accounts. Indeed, I suppose that’s a significant problem that has to be resolved in a consumer friendly fashion.

My other concern is how Apple will address the curious situation where Mac users who haven’t upgraded to Lion are getting shafted by not being able to use iCloud, while Windows users running Vista or Windows 7, courtesy of an iCloud control panel, can use the service. Is that fair? Now it’s true that Apple made serious revisions to Address Book and iCal, two linchpins of iCloud, which may require extra work to resolve. Perhaps Apple could update those two apps in a special update for Leopard and Snow Leopard users. Regardless of the solution, Mac users deserve to be able to set up, or migrate to, iCloud even if they won’t or can’t update to Lion.

I hear rumors that a solution is being worked on. I hope it arrives soon, assuming those of you who are on older versions of the Mac OS care. But if you’re a MobileMe user, you should, since that service goes away as of the summer of 2012.

The other concern is that Apple dropped several integration or sync features in transitioning from MobileMe to iCloud, such as the ability to match up your keychains, Mail preferences, Dashboard widgets and other settings. True, each and every one of these features were flaky, at least from my experience. Perhaps they will be added if and when Apple devises better solutions.

For me, aside from the email glitches, iCloud has worked all right. But I won’t be able to use it fully until there is a solution to the case of the multiple Apple IDs. I hope that solution arrives soon, just as I hope iCloud won’t become something else in a year or two. I’d like to see Apple get this one right, or it will begin to sound like the sort of stunt Microsoft pulls with underperforming products and services.

Consider that, year after year, so-called financial experts have underestimated Apple’s sales. It is so predictable, I can use the same canned headline each and every time to describe the the end results. Unfortunately, it appears that these same “experts” became inebriated with their expectations, and ignored reality to predict how Apple did in the September quarter (their final quarter of the fiscal year). Thus they overshot the mark.

The end result was that Apple appeared to “miss” those artificial estimates, thus causing a fairly large dip in their previously soaring stock price. The knee-jerk reaction is that Apple somehow screwed up, that maybe they are no longer going to grow as fast as they used to. It’s time to face reality. Steve Jobs is gone, and Apple is on the decline, or at least that’s what’s going to be suggested by some of the less-informed pundits.

Of course the reality is that Apple’s financial results were actually 13 percent above their initial guidance, which is typical, since they typically report numbers that are 12 to 18 percent above the guidance. Yes, the company is typically conservative, so you have to expect they are going to do better, but sometimes reality goes out the window when those analysts use their calculators.

So let’s look at the reality. Apple sells over 20 million iPhones in the June quarter, so they “must” do better the next three months. Unfortunately, there’s no new iPhone in the mix; the current model is getting long in the tooth. But over August and September, there’s more and more published speculation that the next iPhone will arrive in October. Predictably, and this was confirmed by Apple, sales begin to dip. Potential customers decided to hold back a little longer, rather than buy a model that’s due to be replaced.

This makes perfect sense, right? It does to me, and I’m sure it will to you too. So that takes us to the next chapter in our little tale.

In reporting over four million iPhone sales through the first weekend the iPhone 4s was on sale, Apple blew away expectations, most of which ran in the two to three million dollar range. Oh yes, one analyst did hit the mark. But it’s fair to say that many of those sales were probably made to people who might have otherwise bought a new iPhone in the previous quarter had the iPhone 4s appeared earlier. That pretty much matches the difference between expected sales and actual sales.

More to the point, regular people don’t buy gadgets because somebody on Wall Street expects them to. This is pretty much what Apple told financial analysts during the quarterly conference call Tuesday afternoon. Of course, you can also take that as corporate spin, but since it makes so much sense, I’m inclined to take it seriously.

Just as interesting is Apple’s guidance for the current quarter, with revenue expected to total $37 billion. If this estimate is as conservative as previous ones, actual sales will total over $41 billion. With the quarter already underway, Apple clearly has an early indication of the direction sales will take. What’s more, even though Steve Jobs is no longer here to run the company, the same financial experts are still on the job. I would assume they are also using the same techniques to develop those number, and, based on past performance, you have to take them seriously.

Unfortunately, it’s not as if there’s a state or federal test to validate the competence of a financial analyst. At least, a lawyer has to pass the bar exam, but maybe that’s not a good example. The point is that I can hang out a shingle on my front lawn, call myself a financial guru, and begin to pump out silly knee-jerk guesses, and if people are willing to pay for my consulting services, carve out a great living for myself. That wouldn’t mean I knew what I was doing, but if I can get people to take me seriously, and get quoted in a few key publications, does it really matter?

Or maybe I’d do better calling myself a psychic. After all, I am host of a paranormal radio show, and that ought to give me some credibility.

Meantime, Apple’s apparent miss of analyst estimates not only dragged down their stock price Wednesday, but that of the entire tech industry. I expect it’ll take a few days for Wall Street to grow a spine and begin to act sensibly. Meantime, some industry analysts are calling for reason, explaining that the lower iPhone sales were, as Apple states, really due to people sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the next model.

This also argues in favor of Apple’s marketing stance, not to talk of future products until the release date is here or near. Clearly, loyal customers will wait if they know that the new product is on the horizon. Sales of current models will drag. How could it be otherwise?

I suppose Apple is entitled to one quarter where the final numbers doesn’t quite meet the predictions of financial analysts. At the same time, it does appear that expectations may have grown a little too extravagant, almost as if they expect Apple to walk on water quarter after quarter. It had to happen some time, and the street’s bullish attitude may have created unrealistic hopes and dreams about what Apple would announce.

But the figures themselves seem awfully good to me. In fact, Apple’s quarterly financials ought to be the envy of any large company. Sales totaled $28.3 billion, up 39 percent from last year. Net income amounted to $6.62 billion, or $7.05 per share, up 54 percent from last year. But industry analysts were expecting revenue of $29.4 billion, with earnings of $7.28 per share, so there you go.

As a result of Apple failing to meet what may have been overblown expectations, shares dropped 5.8%, or $24.33, in after-hours trading. I suppose a little reality check might be sufficient to restore the stock price after the numbers are digested for a few days. Let’s not forget that Apple sold over four million copies of the iPhone 4s on its first on sale weekend. That has to count for something. More to the point, Apple’s forecast for the current quarter actually exceeded analyst expectations, at $37 billion, with income totaling $9.30 per share.

Remember that Apple tends to lowball forecasts, so this may indicate a positively huge December quarter. What’s more, it does appear that the iPhone 4s continues to sell at a good clip, and it’ll probably be several weeks before supply begins to catch up with demand.

Looking at the actual units sold, iPhone sales tallied 17.1 million for the quarter ending September 24th, less than the previous quarter, where 20.3 million were sold, but that ought to be a pretty decent number considering that everyone knew as the quarter progressed that a new model would arrive in October. How many potential iPhone purchases were postponed? Since analysts were looking for sales in the 20 million range, that’s a clear reason for the revenue shortfall.

But even CEO Tim Cook admits that there was some impact, understandable considering all the publicity those rumors of the next iPhone revision generated. It seems inconceivable that some of those initial sales weren’t made to potential customers who sat on the sidelines waiting for a new model. That, of course, is always the danger, which is one key reason why Apple seldom announces new products very far in advance, with the exception of operating system releases, where developers need to know about the changes to keep their apps compatible.

In this case, Apple not only released a new iPhone, but the usual iOS revision had an unusually high number of new features and improvements. While existing iPad and iPhone users are evidently doing well with the upgrade, that may have been one more reason to postpone purchase.

In a more favorable light, Apple also reported that 93 percent of Fortune 500 companies are deploying or testing iPhones. This is up from 91 percent during the last quarter. That news can’t be too encouraging to the management of Research In Motion, who just announced their new OS, dubbed BBX, and please don’t ask me the reasoning behind that label, though it’s no doubt based on QNX, the OS that is, in part, the basis for the upgrade.

And before I forget, Apple reported setting 11.2 million iPads, which seems in line with expectations, though some pegged possible sales at over 12 million. That’s an increase of 166 over last year, making the iPad the fastest growing product in Apple’s catalog.

It’s also obvious that so-called iPad killers are still going nowhere. Perhaps the biggest potential threat, however, appears to come from the forthcoming Amazon Kindle Fire: Predictably Cook had a dismissive response to the Fire’s potential: “We’ve seen several competitors come to market to try to compete with the iPad over time. Some had different form factors, different price points. I think it’s reasonable to say that none of these have gained any traction thus far.”

The most surprising announcement is about the ongoing success of Apple’s original business, personal computers. Some 4.89 million Macs were sold, an all-time record, no doubt due, at least in part, to the release of Lion. Cook described the unexpectedly high Mac sales as “almost unbelievable” when you consider the stellar growth of the iPad. Clearly the iPad is cannibalizing some of those sales, but perhaps more from traditional PCs, which aren’t doing so well nowadays. If that trend continues through the holiday quarter, it’s likely Apple will crack the top five among global PC sales; it’s currently number three in the U.S.

At the same time, Apple is flush with more money than ever, ending the quarter with $81.6 billion in cash and short-term investments; it was $76.2 billion in the past quarter. No doubt those who are asking Apple to declare dividends, or make some high-dollar acquisitions, will only increase those demands going forward.

If you want to explore the financials in more detail, you’ll find the key figures are posted, as usual, at Apple’s site.