The report shows growth in Mac unit sales up 60 percent from 2007 and growth in dollar terms up 66 percent. That’s considerably higher than Pacific Crest’s estimate of 10 percent, according to the same report.

AppleInsider
‘s chart of the NPD data is pasted below the fold. It shows Apple’s share of the U.S. PC market growing from 9 percent in Feb. 2007 to 14 percent in Feb. 2008. In dollar terms, NPD has Apple capturing a full 25 percent of the U.S. computer market last month.

The news may explain why Apple (AAPL) shares jumped several points Monday afternoon, ending the day in positive territory.

Meanwhile, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster analyzed NPD’s February report on the iPod line and projected sales between 9.7 and 10.5 million units for the March quarter. The midpoint of those two figures would equal a 4 percent drop from 2007, considerably lower than the 2 percent gain on 10.8 million units that is the Street’s consensus.

Munster adds:

We see this data point as a slight positive, given this range is a slight increase from what NPD data indicated after 1 month of data. We believe the iPod shuffle price cut on 2/19 helped boost sales in the final week of Feb. and will continue to drive iPod sales in March leading to a more back-end-loaded qtr for iPod units.

As promised, the NPD data is pasted below: