114 Macworld • October 2019FEATUREthey generate may seem small, but that overall
Apple revenue has exploded. Together, they
contributed more than $10 billion in revenue.
Watching Apple’s business change
incrementally, quarter to quarter, sometimes makes
it hard to see the bigger pictures. Its product lines
rise and fall, but up to this point, the company’s
overall trajectory this century has been pretty
dramatically upward. One key reason for that is a
regular addition of new products and services that
can fuel growth and compensate for products that
have stopped growing or, in the case of the iPod,
have faded out entirely.
Apple has come a long way from those quarters
early in the 2000s when it couldn’t even show a
profit. By my back‑of‑the‑envelope calculations,
Apple has generated $450 billion in profit since
2000, $429 billion of that in the last ten years,
and $277 billion of it in the past five years.114 Macworld • October 2019FEATURE
they generate may seem small, but that overall
Apple revenue has exploded. Together, they
contributed more than $10 billion in revenue.
Watching Apple’s business change
incrementally, quarter to quarter, sometimes makes
it hard to see the bigger pictures. Its product lines
rise and fall, but up to this point, the company’s
overall trajectory this century has been pretty
dramatically upward. One key reason for that is a
regular addition of new products and services that
can fuel growth and compensate for products that
have stopped growing or, in the case of the iPod,
have faded out entirely.
Apple has come a long way from those quarters
earlyinthe2000swhenit couldn’tevenshowa
profit.Bymyback‑of‑the‑envelope calculations,
Apple has generated $450 billion in profit since
2000, $429 billion of that in the last ten years,
and $277 billion of it in the past five years.