“Rather than paint a picture of a company in decline, Apple’s earnings in 2012 show just the opposite. In a year of stiff competition, Apple managed to do something that none of its rivals could: make tons and tons of money by selling lots and lots of products at premium prices.”

“The difference is as significant as it is subtle; Apple’s play has always been to create premium products and sell them at premium price—the expression I’ve often heard floating around is “affordable luxury.” Markets that they cannot penetrate on these terms are either abandoned, or never entered in the first place.”