FEATUREthe Mac’s success it had shrunk to only 29 percent of
Apple’s overall revenue.
This was an era drivenby explodingiPhonegrowth
and still‑strong iPod sales. Apple sold 6.9 million
iPhones during the period, and a staggering 11 million
iPods. Overall, the iPhone represented 38 percent of
Apple’s business, and the iPod 13 percent.
Apple’s business was also much larger overall.
The fourth quarter of 2009 generated $11.5 billion
in revenue, more than four times the quarter five years
earlier. And as for profit? The profit had started to
flow in torrents. In the fourth quarter of 2009, Apple
generated $2.2 billion in profit. The money was finally
rolling in.
2014: iPods fade, iPads replace
By 2014, Apple more closely resembles the company
we see today. The iPhone dominates revenue, with
53 percent of the overall total. The iPod has faded
away – its sales are so small (2.9 million) that Apple
has hidden their revenue inside the ‘other products’
category, which itself only makes up 5 percent of
the total pie. Replacing it as a revenue engine is the
iPad, which contributes 16 percent to the total. The
Mac, now selling a staggering 4.4 million units (170
percent more than five years earlier), contributes
15 percent to the total. Apple’s business exploded
between 2004 and 2009, but it’s nothing compared
to the inflation between 2009 and 2014. During the
third quarter of 2014, Apple generated $37.4 billion
in revenue – three times what it did five years earlier
– and $7.7 billion in profit.