So Apple can defy gravity. Record sales and earnings for the holiday season saw Apple’s shares jump 9 per cent in after-market trading on Wednesday night. Yet, in spite of such relief, the group’s market capitalisation remains at half the level of a year ago. The conundrum for a stock that has been loved almost as much as the pared down design of the group’s products is twofold: can it weather the recession and are the prospects for growth over the next decade as rosy as that for the one just past?

Near term, the outlook remains uncertain but by no means terrible. Computer sales were flat overall, with continued growth in laptop sales offsetting declines for an ageing range of desktops. Such resilience is better than the overall PC market, while the struggles of component makers in the broader technology supply chain gave Apple a helpful boost to margins. Consumers continue to snap up iPods, but lower average selling prices compared with a year ago suggest they may be choosing the cheaper models. Meanwhile, iPhone sales continue to grow at a rapid pace, as Apple expands the gadget’s availability. For a company selling beautiful but premium-priced goods, that is a respectable performance.