How much do they earn from iTunes, AppStore and iBooks? These articles only ever seem to talk about hardware.

That's surprisingly low, but not as surprising as iPod rev. I always thought iPod Touches were a good deal, but I guess not many people like paying upfront and would rather get ripped off on subs.

Kudos to them. I hope they will get back to former quality again. All the new stuff doesn't seem to be off typical Apple quality that I am used to. I liked using Apple stuff in the past because it was very reliable, simply worked for everyone even without tech knowledge, and is really great for (my) work because I never spend time on PC or OS issues (my MacBook has been running smooth and fast for over 4 years without a single reset or major issue that kept me from working).
I know it's cool to say Apple sucks because it's cool to be against whatever is popular and successful (always been that way with lots of companies/products - Wii? :P) but I just don't like their latest stuff. And no, I'm not a Steve Jobs lover, I just don't like that they change perfectly working stuff that was thought-through just for the sake of change. It's all still good, just a little going down because of the (too) big success imo.

iTunes is actually the fastest growing part of the company right now, cruising consistently above 20% while iPhone tends to trend around 15%, Mac around 5%, and iPad seems to be leveling off (the 16% drop seems to be mostly inventory shift). That's extra impressive when you consider that Apple has given up hundreds of millions in iTunes revenue by giving away iWork and OS updates.

The margins on iTunes content are much lower than Apple's hardware (I see 15% tossed around as an estimate, but I think it's probably closer to 10%) but the costs as it keeps growing will scale more favourably. 

Probably the best news today for shareholders like kowen is the stock split. The lower share price may bring in new investors. Who knows, AAPL might even reflect what Apple is worth.

I'm one of these iPhones 5S I can't use phones without Touch ID anymore... passcode is so dated.

ethomaz said: I'm one of these iPhones 5S I can't use phones without Touch ID anymore... passcode is so dated.

iPhone 4S master race!

or... Too lazy to replace phone master race! :P

Wow, the Chinese market for Apple is almost as big as the Europe market! I wonder if it could eventually overtake the Americas as Apples biggest source of revenue?

I'm still shocked by how well the iPhone went for them, not only did it create one of the strongest brands in history in a few years and made a bunch of money, but it also benifited Apple as a whole. people I know who didn't even know what the word "Mac" means now use it on a daily basis.

Sure. The US smartphone market is approaching saturation, while the Chinese market is still growing strong. Furthermore, incomes are rising faster in China, and the country is extremely attracted to status brands like Apple.

As a country, China is already poised to overtake the US as Apple's biggest customer. China + Japan earns Apple more revenue than the entire western hemisphere:

As an interesting contrast, Google earns 86% of its revenue from USA + UK. Advertising doesn't seem to be worth much in developing countries. Or even the non-English developed world.

Which makes the rumour about the price rise on the next iPhone even more baffling, why do Apple need all that money! Anyway, they really have cemented themselves so they'll never ever go down.