Personal computer sales in the June quarter were probably about average for this time of year, writes Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope this morning in a note to clients, and he expects Apple (AAPL) to be “best in show” among PC vendors in the quarter.

Best in show is a term you give to dogs, but I’m sure that wasn’t the implication here.

Shope is expecting a 3 percent quarter-over-quarter decline globally in PC units in the three months ended in June, and he notes that Gartner (IT) will unveil a preliminary read on June-quarter PC sales next Thursday, July 16. For the second half of the year, he sees an 8.5 percent pickup in PC units, which is certainly an improvement but below the 10.1 percent average increase over the last decade, he notes.

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Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang this morning repeated his Outperform rating on Google (GOOG), while increasing his price target on the stock to $475, from $400. He also lifted EPS estimates on the company: for Q2, he now sees $4.99, up from $4.48. For the full year, he goes to $21.07, from $19.78.

Wang sees a 1-1.5 percent boost to paid clicks in the second quarter from the company’s new policy to allow third parties to use trademarked terms in the text portion of paid search ads. He also says that channel checks with search engine marketers and key advertisers find that search ad pricing appears to be stabilizing. He now sees revenue per click down 11.7 percent in the quarter, about in line with Q1, and better than his original estimate of down 16.2 percent.

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Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope this morning boosted his estimates for Apple (AAPL), asserting that demand for both Macs and iPhones held up better than he feared in the March quarter.

For the March quarter, he now sees revenue of $7.76 billion and profits of $1.09 a share; his previous forecast was for $7.44 billion and 97 cents. Shope notes that he is now closer to the consensus at $7.95 billion and $1.08. For the September 2009 fiscal year, he now sees $34.54 billion and $5.11 a share, up from $33.17 billion and $4.89. Again, he’s now closer to the Street at $35.28 billion and $5.19.

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GameStop (GME) shares are getting clobbered today on news that Amazon.com (AMZN) is getting into the business of buying and selling used video games–and so is Toys ’R Us.

Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter explained in a research note today that one reason he has maintained an Outperform rating on GME shares is that the company has dominated the used videogame business; he notes that used games generate 44 percent of the retailer’s gross profits, nearly twice the segment’s sales contribution to the company. Over the last several days, he reports, there have been two attacks on the company’s near monopoly in used games.

On Tuesday, Forbes reported that Toys ’R Us has a pilot program to test the sale of used games in some of its U.S. stores; Forbes noted that the program was first reported in the user forums of a Web site called cheapassgamer.com. Other retailers, including Best Buy (BBY) and Blockbuster (BBI), have previously experimented in the segment, but haven’t made much of a dent.

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Nokia (NOK) shares are sagging badly ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report due Thursday morning.

Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha this morning cut his 2009 handset industry sell-in forecast to down 10 percent, from down six percent previously. Citing expectations of continued inventory reductions in the industry, he cut his 2009 EPS estimate to 74 euro cents, from 87 cents. For Q4, he now sees the industry selling 319 million units, flat sequentially, but up 10 percent year over year. He expects Nokia’s unit sales in the quarter to be 115 million units, down two percent sequentially and down 14 percent year over year. For the quarter, he sees Nokia posting revenue of 12.9 billion euros and profits of 25 euro cents a share, below the Street at 13 billion and 27 euro cents. Garcha also cut his estimates on Ericsson (ERIC), citing his reduced handset forecast.

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Numbers continue to ratchet lower for Dell (DELL) ahead of the company’s earnings report after the close Thursday for the fiscal third quarter ended October. While Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) preliminary results today impressed the Street, investors are more focused on the implications of recent ominous warnings from Intel (INTC) and others about the prospects for the rest of this year and 2009.

A number of analysts issued pre-earnings notes this morning and brought down numbers; these follow previous cautionary comments from analysts at Barclays, Merrill Lynch, Goldman, BMO Capital, Citigroup and Credit Suisse.

Cowen’s Louis Miscioscia today repeated his Outperform rating on the stock, but slashed his estimates. He now sees EPS of 31 cents for the October quarter, down from 34 cents; 30 cents for the January quarter, down from 35 cents; $1.30 for the January 2009 fiscal year, down from $1.39; and $1.25 for fiscal 2010, down from $1.49.

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Comcast (CMCSA) shares are up sharply today ahead of the company’s announcement of third quarter results before the opening bell tomorrow.

The Street is looking for revenue of $8.59 billion and profits of 22 cents a share.

Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang today picked up coverage of the cable and satellite sector, launching Comcast with an Outperform rating; he says that cable has a competitive advantage over the satellite companies over the medium term. “Approximately 70 percent of consumers indicate a preference for bundling, and cable is currently the only platform with the ability to offer the triple-play bundle on a side-scale basis,” he writes.

In a note this morning previewing tomorrow’s numbers, Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett said he continues to view cable stocks as “far and away, the best defensives in our broader telecom, cable and satellite universe.” He says they not only offer strong defensive characteristics–”video and broadband are no more discretionary for most families than running water”–but also solid growth prospects even as we head into a recession.

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Back on June 26, Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha picked up coverage of Research In Motion (RIMM) with an Underperform rating, setting a $100 price target. So far, he’s looking like a genius: RIMM shares are since down 16 percent. His view was that RIMM’s EPS momentum is poised to slow over the next 12 months due to loss of market share in North America and pressures on gross margin. In particular, he asserted that the company was likely to lose share to Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T) with the introduction of the iPhone 3G. Garcha set EPS estimates of $3.56 for the Feb. 2009 fiscal year, and $4.54 for FY 2010, below the Street at $3.81 and $5.41.

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