Apple Earnings Prove the Post-PC Era Is Upon Us

Tech giant Apple posted big gains in iPhone sales, setting a new September quarter record. Although some will point to the companyEUs entry into new markets for its success, there is nevertheless a post-PC world story to tell -- and Apple is telling it well.

The company posted quarterly revenue of $37.5 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.5 billion, or $8.26 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarterEUs revenue.

How did Apple do it? The company sold 33.8 million iPhones, a record for the September quarter, compared to 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 14 million in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, the company sold 4.6 million Macs, compared to 4.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

So what does all this really mean for Apple and for the greater tech industry?

AppleEUs Macro Story

We caught up with Roger Entner, a principal analyst at Recon Analytics, to get his take on AppleEUs earnings from a technology perspective. He told us Apple has the macro story right: tablets and smartphones are overtaking PCs and Macs. Even still, Apple is making strategic investments in its Mac Pro line, understanding that the market may be dipping but not disappearing.

EUThe new Mac Pro desktop is a massive step forward,EU Entner said. EUWhat is holding computing back -- and that is true from desktop computers to laptops to tablets and to phones -- is heat. The more we compute the more power we need and as a side effect the hotter the device becomes. If we find ways of running things cooler with less power we can run them faster.EU

Entner...