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Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is certainly no stranger to impressive numbers. But even if Apple were split into four separate companies, each would be impressive in its own right.
Apple's four major divisions - the iPhone, the iPad, the Mac, and the iTunes Store - rake in so much revenue each that they would rank individually in the top half of the Fortune 500.
The iPhone business, with fiscal year 2012 revenue of over $80 billion, would rank 29th in the Fortune 500, ahead of such tech titans as Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG).
The $32 billion iPad business is no slouch either: It would rank 95th - bigger than Time Warner Corp. (NYSE: TWX).
It's hard to believe that all of AAPL had revenue of just $6.21 billion in 2003.
Even Apple's Macintosh computer business, though overshadowed by its mobile cousins, also has grown into a mighty money-maker. The Mac business pulled in over $23 billion in FY 2012, which would make it 125th on the Fortune 500.
And the iTunes Store - typically thought of as just a support system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod businesses - generates a ton of revenue when you include all the developer and media vendor revenue that passes through the store. (Apple only reports the cut it takes in its earnings.)
According to Horace Dediu of Asymco, all revenue transacted through iTunes Store adds up to a stunning $12 billion annually.
The chart below shows where all of AAPL's businesses would rank in the 2012 Fortune 500, which was released last May.
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About the Author
David Zeiler, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including 18 spent at The Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a writer, editor, and page designer at different times in his career. He's interviewed a number of well-known personalities - ranging from punk rock icon Joey Ramone to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Over the course of his journalistic career, Dave has covered many diverse subjects. Since arriving at Money Morning in 2011, he has focused primarily on technology. He's an expert on both Apple and cryptocurrencies. He started writing about Apple for The Sun in the mid-1990s, and had an Apple blog on The Sun's web site from 2007-2009. Dave's been writing about Bitcoin since 2011 - long before most people had even heard of it. He even mined it for a short time.
Dave has a BA in English and Mass Communications from Loyola University Maryland.