Friday Apple Rumors — Mac on the Attack

Here are your daily Apple rumors and AAPL stock news items for Friday:

Macs Make Up 5% of Global PC Market: Take that, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). While Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to empty wallets thanks to the popularity of its smartphones and tablets, the company continues to make modest gains in its traditional computer business, which many people thought would die during the 1990s. A Friday report at All Things Digital said that, according to Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf, Apple’s Mac desktop and laptop computers made up 5% of global PC shipments in the last quarter. Sales in Asian markets and with business clients are big contributors in the Mac line’s impressive growth. Mac sales grew 43.8% with businesses. The last quarter was the 22nd consecutive quarter that Mac shipments have increased.

Big PC Companies Leave Tablet Market in 2012: In other news about Apple eating the PC industry’s lunch, a Friday report in Digitimes (via Apple Insider) said many companies are preparing to cede the tablet market to Apple and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Citing industry sources, the report said that four of the biggest PC makers on the planet — including Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), Asus and Acer — will exit the tablet market in 2012. The reason? These companies can’t expect to make a profit on devices that sell as cheaply as Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and they can’t compete with the popularity of Apple’s iPad. The report, of course, runs contrary to recent comments made by HP CEO Meg Whitman regarding her company’s future in the tablet market.

Apple May Lose Billions Fighting Motorola in Court: On Nov. 4, Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) won an injunction against Apple in Germany blocking Apple from selling its mobile products like the iPhone and iPad in that country. On Friday, a Bloomberg report (via 9 to 5 Mac) said Apple stands to lose as much as $2.7 billion if it loses the patent case in question.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Follow him on Twitter at�@ajohnagnello�and�become a fan of�InvestorPlace on Facebook. For more from the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.