The Apple Macintosh: Success In The Era of Handheld Devices
For much of Apple's storied history the company's revenue was generated primarily from one product line - The Macintosh line of personal computers. The release of iTunes for Windows and the opening of the iTunes music store in 2003 transformed a Macintosh peripheral called the Apple iPod into a global success unimagined when the first iPod hit the market in 2001.
I purchased an Apple iPod soon after it came to market and used it as an external FireWire drive for storing files and copies of the various Web sites I managed. I remember attending a conference for technology educators in 2002 at which the Apple iPod was pitched as a tool for moving curriculum content from one classroom to another and as a portable storage resource for educators. The Apple iPod became for a time Apple's flagship product only to be supplanted by the Apple iPhone and the resurgence of the Mac following the Intel transition.
From the company's humble beginnings in a Silicon Valley residential garage to today, the Macintosh remains one of Apple's most important product lines. Even in this post-PC era ushered in by the success of the iPod and subsequent development and release of the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad, the Macintosh line of personal computers remains an integral component of the company's continuing revenue and earnings success.
The Apple Macintosh In The Post-PC Era
On January 29, 2011 I published a post titled The Macintosh Revenue Paradox and on February 5, 2011 I published a post titled Apple Retail Stores: Macintosh Sales Center And More. Today I'm completing this thematic look at the Macintosh line's unit sales and revenue performance with a comprehensive review of the product line's results for the most recent nine fiscal quarters.
The graph and table data below illustrate and delineate the Mac's consistent revenue growth over the most recent nine fiscal quarters.
