Apple Computer could make some big gains in the education market during the back-to-school shopping season this year.

A new survey by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence shows a big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple's Macintosh computers, especially desktop models.

The same survey shows PC giant Dell losing ground among likely PC buyers. Meanwhile, rival Hewlett-Packard is showing continued strength among consumers heading into the fall shopping season.

Among likely PC buyers in the next six months, Apple tied with Hewlett-Packard for the No. 2 brand overall. Both were the brand choice of 11% of prospective buyers in the early June poll by TechnoMetrica.

Using Intel Chips

Dell was No. 1 with 41%. But that's down from 48% in May and 55% in April.

Apple's bet on Intel processors for its Macintosh computers appears to be paying dividends, analysts say.

Among those saying it's likely they'll buy a new desktop PC in the next six months, Apple was the No. 2 preferred brand, with 16%. That's the highest number for Apple since TechnoMetrica began collecting purchase-intent data more than two years ago. In May, 6% of likely desktop PC buyers said they would choose Apple.

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Source: Yahoo Finance