Apple’s history is often told as a procession of blockbuster devices—and that’s certainly a striking part of it. The most successful of those devices, the iPhone, remains a powerful engine for the company, accounting for about half of sales in 2025.
But the company that first caught the public imagination with its inspired product design has also spent its first half-century building an ecosystem that delivers a river of recurring revenue: Services, a division that barely existed 15 years ago—encompassing the App Store, iCloud, Music, TV, payments, advertising, and more—is projected to make up more than a quarter of this year’s revenue.
The data reveals a company that has truly gone global. The U.S. contributes 36% of sales, but Europe is not far behind at 27%, while the rest of the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region make up another third. Meanwhile, Apple’s store footprint has grown to more than 500 locations, with non-U.S. stores driving much of that expansion.
Financially, the rise has been extraordinary: Annual profits rose from roughly $2 billion in 2006 to $112 billion in 2025.
And lastly, a figure that will make investors who didn’t get onto the Apple bus early wince: A $10,000 Apple investment at its 1980 IPO would have grown to $40.5 million by mid-2026.
This article appears in the October/November 2026 issue of Fortune.