IOS generates 75 per cent of Apple's OS sales

SHINY TOY MAKER Apple is doing rather well from IOS, with the walled garden mobile operating system accounting for 75 per cent of its operating system revenue.

Analyst outfit Asymco totted up the scores that show while Apple has been enjoying significant growth with its Mac OS X operating system, IOS, found on its portable consumer devices, has been cleaning up at the till. The firm reported that devices running Mac OS X and IOS account for 96 per cent of Apple's profits. That in itself might not be all that surprising, but four years ago, Mac OS X products accounted for just 50 per cent of Apple's profits.

Asymco tried to put some sort of scale on these figures by comparing it to Microsoft. The firm said that Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division recorded profits of $2.7 billion, while Apple's profits from Mac OS X and IOS devices came in at $9.8 billion.

Although Asymco's comparison with Microsoft isn't quite fair, as Microsoft doesn't sell any Windows-based hardware directly, it goes to show that Apple has some way to go with Mac OS X if it wants to eclipse Microsoft. Through its line of computers running Mac OS X it racks up only half of the profits that Microsoft does by simply flogging an operating system to original equipment manufacturers and system builders.

Even with the iffy comparison, Asymco's figures highlight just how important IOS has become to Apple, greatly eclipsing its previous cash cow, Mac OS X. For Apple, not only has IOS put Apple in consumers' hands but it's bringing home the bacon too. µ