There was growth in every business sector; even Mac sales were up 10% year-over-year

When it comes to tablets, global sales may be declining overall, yet Apple saw shipments rise 11.4% year-overyear to 10.3 million iPads in Q3, giving it a worldwide market share of 25.8%, according to research by IDC. This is even more impressive when you notice that the number-two vendor, Samsung, had a market share of just 15% and suffered a 7.9% drop in sales year-overyear. Amazon came in third with a market share of 10.9% in the quarter.

While it’s perhaps easier to pit one big tech company against another, it’s even clearer that Apple is on top when you look at operating systems overall. In the US, iOS has a market share of just under 55%, compared with Android’s 44.4%. In Canada, the estimated figures are iOS 51.4% vs Android 46.5%. In Japan, you’re looking at iOS 67% vs Android 32.3%.

Developing markets

Sure, Android sells strongly in developing markets such as India, where you can buy a budget Android phone for under $100, but Apple revealed in its Q3 earnings call that its revenue in India has doubled, and Bloomberg reports that the company’s iPhone assembler in India is seeking a location for a new assembly plant. Canalys reports that in China, after six consecutive quarters of declining sales, the iPhone 8 launch has seen iPhone sales rise by a dramatic 40% year-over-year. Apple is still only number five in the Chinese market, but it’s the only non-Chinese brand in the top five, and forecasters see promising signs for Apple in these key growth markets.

After its strong Q3 earnings and bullish forecast for the holiday quarter, Apple’s market capitalization topped $900 billion in November 2017. As market observers noted, Apple is the first publicly-traded US company to hit this highwater mark, and it’s looking like just a matter of time till it reaches the trillion-dollar level. It won’t be the first company to do so, as Fortune pointed out: “That distinction belongs to oil and gas producer PetroChina, which briefly topped $1 trillion on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2007,” it reports, and Saudi state-owned oil giant Aramco is probably worth more overall. But Apple is currently the biggest public company in the world, and looks to be ever on the up.