Whoa. Shares of Apple broke the $200 barrier for the first time Wednesday as holiday shoppers continue to snap up huge quantities of electronic goodies. It’s been a great year for the Cupertino-based company; Apple introduced a new version of its operating system this year, refreshed its hot-selling iPod line and launched the iPhone. When trading opened on Jan. 3 of 2007, shares of Apple were selling for $86.29. Whoa. Shares of Apple broke the $200 barrier for the first time Wednesday as holiday shoppers continue to snap up huge quantities of electronic goodies. It’s been a great year for the Cupertino-based company; Apple introduced a new version of its operating system this year, refreshed its hot-selling iPod line and launched the iPhone. When trading opened on Jan. 3 of 2007, shares of Apple were selling for $86.29. Shortly before the close of trading on Wednesday, the stock was selling for $199.70, after retreating a bit from its record high of $200.96. The company’s notebooks ranked among the top-selling computers at Amazon.com during the Christmas shopping season, an important signal as iPod sales begin to flatten out. In Apple’s most recent quarter, a 34% increase in Mac unit shipments over last year yielded a 40% boost in computer sales and generated half the company’s total revenue. IPod sales, by contrast, grew just 4% and accounted for 26% of total sales.And speaking of Amazon, the giant online retailer announced that the 2007 holiday season was its best ever. Dec. 10 was Amazon’s busiest day as customers ordered more than 5.4 million items. Top sellers for the season included the Garmin GPS, Canon PowerShot digital cameras, Samsung LCD HDTVs, Apple MacBooks and HP Pavilion notebooks.(Disclosure: I have a small position in Apple.) I welcome your comments, tips and suggestions. Reach me at bill.snyder@sbcglobal.net Technology Industry