iTunes, a company in its own right!

When calculating the figures of
last quarter 2012 Apple has revised the way it presents its figures in order to
better stick to reality.

We therefore find a whole new category which includessales
of accessories and that of iTunes, understand the apps sold, the
music, e-books, but also the Mac App Store.

According to Horace Dediu, analyst at Asymco, iTunes alone is a business
more than profitable:

Witha gross margin of 15% and annual growth of
30%, iTunes is now a significant part of the activities
d’Apple.

In 2012, this new category generated13.5 billion
turnover and around 2 billion profit. As
comparison, this category far exceeds the revenues generated by the iPod.
It also alone exceeds the turnover of all other manufacturers of
Smartphones, Samsung aside.

In 2013, iTunes is expected to overtake Mac sales. This was already the case in
2012 if we add sales of accessories such as the Smart Cover to iTunes
and Apple TV.

iTunes is now Apple's fourth business and weighs heavily in
balance. It is now very difficult to consider it as a simple
software giving access to the store. It is an activity in its own right
d’Apple.

source