An Apple Credit Account With a 10.49 Percent APR. How's That for a Black Friday Discount?

There’s no disagreeing: The discounts Apple (AAPL) offered during last week’s “Black Friday” sale were anything but insanely great. Five to ten percent discounts on Macs and iPods, though largely consistent with last year, came as something of a disappointment to those hoping that Apple’s favorable cash position in this dismal economy would translate into a more favorable cash position for Apple Store patrons.

Didn’t stop them from buying Apple hardware though, did it? According to analysts at Piper Jaffray, Goldman Sachs, Kaufman Brothers and Thomas Weisel Partners, Apple did quite well on Black Friday. “…our checks suggest that [Apple] continues to gain market share in PCs, smartphones and MP3 players despite the challenge of higher price points in difficult economic times,” said Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid, who also said holiday sales may be up slightly from last year. And judging from the research note Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey penned this weekend, he may well be right. “Crowds remain the norm in the Apple Stores that we visited, with some having lines outside the stores even after the initial early-morning rush,” Bailey wrote. “Checkout lines also seemed healthy throughout the day and Apple continues to take advantage of its ‘instant checkout’ throughout its Stores to speed purchases for Macs and iPods.”

Looks like 2008 is still shaping up to be Apple’s 10 million Mac year….