Steve Jobs and Apple’s First $100 Billion Year

It’s ironic that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has stepped aside as CEO of the company soon after the enterprise reported its first $100 billion year. In the four fiscal quarters ended in June, Apple reported revenue of $100.322 billion in revenue and net income of $23.606 billion.

To put these numbers in perspective, in the fiscal year that ended in September 1997, a few months after Steve Jobs returned to the helm of the company, Apple reported revenue of $7.081 billion and a net loss of $1.045 billion. Apple’s FY 1997 performance evidenced a dramatic deterioration in the company’s results due to the missteps of prior management. The $7.081 billion in revenue was a 36% reduction in revenue from the company’s revenue performance just two years prior in FY 1995, and the net loss was nearly a $1.5 billion change in outcome from the same FY 1995 results. Apple’s FY 1997 net loss equated to a loss of $8.29 per share. In the four fiscal quarters ended in June, Apple’s net income equated to earnings of $25.26 per share.

In 14 short years under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Apple became the most highly valued technology company on the planet with a current market capitalization (the sum value of all outstanding shares) of over $350 billion, a company with annual revenue now exceeding $100 billion, and cash and marketable securities on the company’s balance sheet of $76 billion or about $81 in cash for every outstanding share.

Apple’s Dynamic Revenue Mix

Apple’s change in fortune has been driven by change in Apple’s products. In the four fiscal quarters ended in June, 61% of the $100 billion in reported revenue was sourced from sales of the iPhone and iPad. These are two products that did not exist in the market as recently as five years ago today. Stepping back five years to Apple’s FY 2006, the iPod generated more than 50% of the company’s revenue. Next fiscal year, the iPod line will generate less than 5% of Apple’s revenue results.

Apple is not only an extraordinarily successful company, but it’s also among the most dynamic large companies on the planet. Apple has mastered the art of dynamic change, and today a change has come to the CEO’s chair at the company.

Tim Cook and Apple’s First $100 Billion Year

For those of us who closely follow Apple, Tim Cook is a familiar voice on the quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts. As Chief Operating Officer at Apple, his knowledge of the company and his acumen as the day-to-day decision maker has been beyond question. Stepping into his new role as CEO at Apple is a natural step forward. The editors of ATPM covered the return of Steve Jobs in 1997 and we look forward to continuing our coverage of Apple under the leadership of Tim Cook. Over the past few years, no other executive at Apple other than Steve Jobs has had as much influence on the company’s success.

Our September issue includes:

Bloggable

A monthly summary of Wes Meltzer’s blogosphere news, originating from his Pinboard feed. This month: Software Patents Make the Troll World Go Round, Because There’s Never Enough Tablet News, Do Androids Dream of Electric iPhones?, Lion Boot Discs, and more.

The iPad Chronicles: A Hometown Apple Store

Robert Paul Leitao muses about how the arrival of an Apple Store in a community may be an indication that the community has come into its own.

MacMuser: Scrabbling Around for a Solution

Have you been seeing a facsimile of Scrabble® tiles instead of expected typefaces in Safari? Mark Tennent may have some helpful information for you.

MacMuser: 2011 and All That

“Gardeners will tell you that their apples are better and earlier than any year they can remember. Equally, their tomatoes are a dead loss.”

PEBKAC: Never Forget

The great thing about history, be it for a country or a corporation, is that there are many lessons which can be learned, if we choose to never forget.

Segments: Apps for the Modern Realtor and Consumer

Whether you are a realtor or a consumer, Jean Feuillet has a compilation of apps that will aid you in dealing with real estate.

Segments: United States of Apple

Kevin Rossen may be on to something, and he even took the liberty of redesigning a familiar image in anticipation of his idea.

Desktop Pictures: New York City

In view of the upcoming tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, Jens Grabenstein contributes two higher resolution versions of twin tower photos he submitted to ATPM in January 2001, along with several recent photos of the city.

Out at Five

Matt Johnson’s new series, Out at Five, looks at the workplace and its boundaries from all angles, revolving around many of the same characters from his former series, Cortland.

Qaptain Qwerty

Linus Ly illustrates the lonely life of a frontrunner.

The Spinning Beachball

Thank you, Steve, for (almost) everything.

Review: Nisus Writer Pro 2.0

Following up on previous reviews, Ed Eubanks looks at the new version 2.0 upgrade of Nisus Writer Pro, and highlights the improvements and new features.

Review: SleeveCase for MacBook Air

“If you are willing to take up the style challenge, the WaterField SleeveCase is a first-class man purse.”

Copyright © 2011 Robert Paul Leitao. Robert Paul Leitao is a contributing editor at ATPM and is author of the Posts At Eventide and The iPad Chronicles blogs.