The big tech research firms have decided not to count the iPad and other "media tablets" as personal computers in their quarterly reports on the PC market. But some consumers apparently see the Apple tablet as an alternative to a computer, in some cases, as evidenced by recent data suggesting the iPad is hurting PC sales.

With that in mind, it's worth noting that Apple's combined unit sales of Macs and iPads approached 11.5 million units (4.1 million Macs and 7.3 million iPads) for the quarter ended Dec. 25, according to the earnings report issued by the company this afternoon. By that measure, if the iPad were counted as a computer, Apple would have placed second -- ahead of PC giants Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba -- in the IDC research firm's ranking of Q4 shipments by vendor.

Apple would have placed third, behind Acer and HP, in the Gartner research firm's PC sales rankings.

It's an academic exercise and an inexact science, but it illustrates the meteoric rise of the iPad and its impact on the broader market.

Overall, Apple surpassed Wall Street's expectations with a blowout quarter. Revenue rose 71 percent to $26.7 billion. Earnings were up 77 percent, to $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share. Mac sales rose 23 percent, bucking the broader slowdown in the worldwide market.