Apple is primarily known for the overwhelming popularity of its Mac, iPhone and iPad line of products. However, while the smartphones and tablets mark the major portion of Apple’s earnings, one of the key revenue streams for it is the iTunes Store. According to an analyst, iTunes is now the fourth-largest revenue earning section for Apple.
Over the years, iTunes Store has amassed millions of users. Given the fact that iPhone and iPad users routinely visit iTunes to get Apple-approved content, it is no wonder that the Store is already making billions of dollars each year.
During 2012 alone, Apple generated a revenue of $13.5 billion via iTunes Store. Over the last two years, the store has grown at a rate of 30 percent; a number which becomes understandable given the fact that Apple has sold hundreds of millions of smartphones and tablets over the same period.
The growth is manifest in the revenue increase between 2011 and 2012. During 2011, the revenue from the store was $10.2 billion. It registered a growth of more than $3 billion within a single year. At the current rate, Horace Dediu of Asymco thinks, iTunes will soon become the third-largest business owned by Apple.
In fact, if the revenue from Apple’s iTunes Store and Accessories businesses were to be combined, they would be greater than the total annual revenue of nearly all phone vendors. The secret to Apple’s extra-ordinary overall revenue is being able to maintain multiple businesses, each of which is highly profitable, viable and growing.
Courtesy: CNET
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