Jason Snell noticed something during yesterday’s results call:
Apple’s latest quarterly results were about as boring as you can get while still featuring $21.4 billion in profit and setting an all-time third-quarter record. Most categories were flat, with the exception of a one-time bump in iPad sales (amazing what actually introducing new products can do!) and the continued, relentless increase in Services revenue.
Another quarter, another record-setting total for Apple’s Services line—$24.2 billion in revenue. And yet, the more I looked at that number, the more I started to ask myself some fundamental questions about Apple’s business, today and in the future.