Robberies: A new measure of Apple market strength?

Apple stock has taken a beating this year. Still, the company's products were hot this holiday season, and perhaps too hot at times, as shown by recent rash of burglaries in the Silicon Valley area.

In a wave of after-Christmas taking, a pair of robbers on Sunday hit two Apple Stores in Palo Alto and Los Gatos in the Silicon Valley. The team stole some $20,000 of MacBooks and iPhone G3s.

So even after the holiday, Macs and iPhone are on the wanted list. As I mentioned last winter, Microsoft wished that robbers were targeting the Zune.

Read more at Great news for Microsoft: Zunes stolen!

According to the local crime reports, the pair had a hip getaway ride:

The suspects in the Los Gatos burglary matched the description of the suspects in the Palo Alto case, Ryan said. A brown, 1990s Chevy sedan similar to a Caprice or an Impala was seen leaving the Los Gatos store, Ryan said.

As I walked the local mall during the holiday, I noticed that there were times that the foot traffic was slim, and there was quiet in the food court. However, whatever the stillness around the rest of the mall, there always appeared to be a crowd in the Apple Store.

Now, some of those folks were checking out the Internet rather than buying, which is usual behavior. But there appeared to be purchasing going on.

These burglars appear to be unusually polite, since they waited until after the Christmas/Hanukkah holiday to steal the goods. Little Timmy got his iPhone under the tree.