According to popular consensus, the much beloved iPod has boosted Apple Computer’s Mac sales and may ultimately help the company get into phones.

But five years of PC sales data paint a far more complicated picture than conventional wisdom would have it.

Did the arrival and popularity of the iPod coincide with a reversal of an ominous slide in sales of personal computers at Apple? Yes. But sales at many other PC makers grew as well. And some, like Acer, which doesn’t even have a digital music player, gained market share at a much quicker pace than Apple.

In fact, industry experts say other factors, such as lower prices and new technology, may have as much to do with the slow reversal of the Mac’s fortunes as the iPod.

In 2002, the first full year Apple sold the iPod, Apple accounted for 2.23 percent of the worldwide PC market and 3.53 percent of the US market, according to figures from IDC. In 2003, Apple’s global share declined to 1.99 percent and its market share in the U.S. sank to 3.17 percent.

A new trend emerged in 2004. Apple’s worldwide market share continued to drop, hitting 1.96 percent. But in the US–the region where the iPod has been the most popular–it rose to 3.32 percent. In 2005, the worldwide figure rose to 2.27 percent while the US figure jumped to 4 percent.

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