• TechCrunch et al., Wednesday, January 19, 2011 2:55 PM

Apple posted revenue of nearly $27 billion on record sales Tuesday afternoon, but -- other than its robust health -- what does the news tell us about the tech giant?

For one, "The iPad business [about $4.6 billion] is already a bigger business than Apple's portable computer business," TechCrunch reports. "That includes MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and MacBook Airs. And it's within spitting distance of surpassing Apple's entire Mac business in terms of revenue."

What's more, "The interesting story is in the massive volume of iGadgets -- OK, technically, devices like the iPhone or iPad that run iOS -- the company sells," BNet writes. "A conservative estimate would put Apple at selling more than 120 million of the devices a year, not counting the Apple TV or Macs, as they start to move toward a convergence with the mobile device operating system."

In particular, the iPad is now being used or evaluated in "80 per cent of the largest companies," reports The Register, citing comments on Tuesday by Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook.

As CNet reports, "Cook said he foresees little competition from Android tablets, especially the current crop that's shipping with versions of Android not optimized for tablets."

In that case, "You wind up with a scaled-up smartphone, which is a bizarre product in our view," Cook said on Tuesday. "It's hard for me to understand if somebody does a side-by-side (comparison) with an iPad, I think an enormous percentage of people are going to select an iPad. Those are not tablets we have any concern on."

While perhaps not as noteworthy as its amazing "iGadget" sales, Apple's Mac business is doing pretty well, too.

Indeed, "The resurgent Mac also set a new sales record: 4.13 million units, breaking last quarter's record of 3.9 million, and more than 750,000 Macs than the company sold a year ago," GigaOm reports. "To put that number into even greater perspective, Apple sold 4.5 million Macs during all of 2005."

According to some, such a strong performance should quell fears that Steve Jobs' absence -- temporary or permanent -- could impact Apple's fortunes.

"Apple landed blockbuster results ... reassuring investors that visionary CEO Steve Jobs' medical leave will have no impact on growth," reported Reuters.

Also of note, Apple on Tuesday said it added $9.8 billion during the quarter, putting its account balance north of $60 billion, and opening the door for acquisitions of any shape or size.

Read the whole story at TechCrunch et al. »