Apple’s worldwide unit shipments had strong growth of more than 25 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2004, according to new research from IDC. “This gain represents a significant improvement over prior quarters, reflecting the introduction of the G5 iMac as well as some substantiation that PC sales have benefited from the popularity of Apple’s music business,” the firm said. Apple outpaced the overall PC market, which had growth of 13.7 percent due to “small and medium business segments and holiday consumer demand.” Apple did not crack the worldwide top five vendors in shipments.