by , 2:55 PM EST, January 9th, 2008

Best Buy wants Apple to expand its Macintosh store-within-a-store presence in its stores this year, according to Ben Reitzes, an analyst with UBS. The goal is for a presence in 500 Best Buy stores by February 2009 versus the current 270.

Best Buy already sells iPods in about 900 of its stores, but the Macintosh opration is different, according to C|Net. In that operation, Best Buy allows Apple to set up its own retail space in their stores and control the customer experience.

Tom Krazit wondered, however, if Apple can maintain that special arrangement as it continues to take market share away from PC vendors -- who might increasingly object to special treatment by Best Buy. Meanwhile, TMO notes, the Macintosh sales success is apparently being noticed by Best Buy and both companies don't mind making considerable money in the current arrangement.