Earnings Preview: Apple Inc.

Apple Inc., maker of Macintosh computers and the iPhone, reports fiscal second-quarter earnings Wednesday after the closing bell. The following is a summary of key developments related to that period.

OVERVIEW: In January, Apple ( AAPL - news - people ) founder Steve Jobs addressed the matter of his increasingly gaunt appearance - twice. He first said it was caused by an easily treatable hormone imbalance, and that he would remain at the helm. The next week, Jobs, a cancer survivor, revealed the problem was more complicated and said he would take a medical leave of absence until the end of June. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is running the company in his absence.

n March, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple updated its line of desktop Macintosh computers, called iMacs, and released an even tinier version of its tiniest music player, the iPod Shuffle. It also showed off upcoming changes to the iPhone software, including the ability to copy and paste text, which was missing from earlier versions.

While Windows PC makers slashed prices in the face of a worsening economic crisis, Apple held the line. Its quarterly U.S. computer shipments fell about 1 percent from a year ago, better than the 3 percent decline in the U.S. overall, according to research group IDC.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Apple to earn $1.08 per share on $7.9 billion in sales.

ANALYST TAKE: Opinion varied as to the extent the downturn has affected Apple sales.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a research note Monday that sales of Macs seemed stronger than he had expected in the quarter, while iPod and iPhone sales met the high end of his estimates. Wu rates the stock a "Buy."

And Doug Reid, an analyst for Thomas Weisel, wrote in an April 17 note that Quanta Computer Inc., the Taiwan-based company that makes many of Apple's computers, said its average selling price rose 5 percent in February and March. That suggests brisker business selling Apple's higher-priced Macs in the quarter.