The company shipped its first mouse in 1982. Logitech announced today the shipment of its 500 millionth computer mouse.

　　According to the manufacturer, an average of 270,000 mice are manufactured every day--for a total of around 6 million a month. Research firm IDC estimates that 55 percent of the world's 900 million desktop PCs shipped since 1982 have included a Logitech mouse.

　　Logitech began as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), but its product portfolio has expanded in the last decade to include keyboards, speakers, webcams, digital pens, mobile phones, PC headsets, and console and PC gaming peripherals.

　　In its current fiscal year, Logitech says it will generate $1.1 billion in revenue.

　　In the quirky-facts department: Logitech says that the 500 million mice placed end to end would circle the earth 1.5 times and fill more than 48 Olympic-size swimming pools. A Logitech-sponsored survey of one thousand Internet users by Greenfield Online found that 63 percent of respondents "spent more time holding their mouse than any other commonly held objects," including cell phones, remote controls, steering wheels, PDAs, and their, uh, significant others.