I�m Brian Cooley with Top 5: Steve Jobs Greatest Hits, the top money makers from his
second tenure at Apple, basically the �i� era.
Let�s see which of Apple�s products are
most responsible for making it more or less the most valuable company in the world.
#5 iPod
Yes, the bottom rung is where you now find Steve Jobs critical first foray outside of
computers, the iPod.
This was the device that started the Apple�s march toward what it is
today, maker of an array of digital living products -- it dropped the word �computer� from
its legal name in January 2007 -- but iPod is now Apple�s only declining business, down
about 6% in the most recent report, and about half of those sales are iPod Touch.
#4 is iTunes.
This lowly ranking might surprise a lot of people.
iTunes for media and
apps looms large in our minds and is one of the truly unique innovations of the Jobs �i�
era, but its sales are, like the iPod, only around 5%-6% of Apple�s revenue and until
recently was basically just a break even business.
Now, unlike the iPod, iTunes is a
growing business and here�s a hint why: , iTunes sold 10 billion apps in less than half the
time it took to sell that many songs!
And the internet video era in living rooms hasn�t
even really kicked in yet.
#3 is the Mac, line: Macbooks, iMacs and Pros.
Now we�re getting into the real money,
something like 18% of Apple�s business and growing about 23% over the last year, Jobs
must be especially proud of this category because its where Apple was always ridiculed
as a niche player back in the day.
Today OS X has about 15% market share in the U.S. -
- Switzerland is the #1 Mac OS country, BTW -- but Apple has 91% market share of
computers over $1,000!
#2 is the device they called a toy, the iPad.
It�s Apple�s biggest growing product by far,
something like 600% growth in the last year, and will go down in history as Jobs� last
product as boss at Apple.
Its about 21% of Apple�s business today and even with dozens
of competitors will command over 60% of the market through 2011.
When consumers
are asked which tablet they are considering, 95% say iPad.
I don�t think the numbers are
quite that high for the Playbook.
Before we get to #1, here�s a huge hit from Apple you can�t buy: Their stores.
They now
have over 310 of them, turning out the highest revenue per square foot in the retail chain
business -- something like 7 times the dollars per square foot as Best Buy and almost
double TIFFANY stores for crying out loud.
#1 if, of course, the iPhone.
But a lot of people don�t realize by how much.
It�s nearly half
the business at Apple, and combine it with iPad and that�s basically the company.
But
with that in mind, you can see why the battle with Android is likely the one Jobs is most
disappointed he won�t lead the company through.
Android phones now have 41% market
share to iPhones 27% and Android is growing its share some 3x faster.
But in terms of
dollars, nobody makes as much money off a single phone as Apple.
So those are Jobs greatest hits, a pretty damned impressive album.
BTW, don�t miss my related Top 5: Apple�s Flops, that�s over at Top5.cnet.com
