Can iPhone growth outpace decline in Apple's laptop sales?

With Apple (AAPL) set to report its third quarter earnings today after the closing bell, expectations for the computer, mobile phone and software company are running rather high. So high that some analysts are expecting blow-out earnings numbers from the Cupertino, California company.

A number of prominent Wall Street analysts who follow Apple have come out with projections that the company will record a very strong quarter in terms of notebook sales, after a report from retail trend tracker NPD noted favorable Mac sales numbers. But tech consulting company IDC also issued Apple computer sales figures for the previous three months, and its conflicting report showed a decline of 12.1 percent, year over year.